Ranma, Mage of the Darkness
by HistorianoftheKais
Summary: Ranma has a dark connection to the 30th Century What gifts will Ranma's heritage bring him and what will it cost him? Ranma Sailor Moon Crossover.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This is in print, the actual series are in comic format, I think that would be a clue that I don't own Ranma ½ or any other series that will appear in this story. I will not say this again.

Saphir woke up with an absolutely horrible headache that felt like there was a troop of dwarves mining his head with jackhammers. The headache was so bad that Saphir couldn't even open his eyes from the pain. As he was trying to open his eyes the dark mage muttered, "I really shouldn't have all of those shots of Moonshine last night. What was I thinking allowing Rubius to goad me into that drinking contest?"

Even though Saphir was in a great deal of pain he got the sense of disaster breathing down his neck. Wait a second, that wasn't the sense of disaster, someone actually was breathing on his neck. Now Saphir was starting to get nervous and he timidly opened one eye to see what was going on. Saphir's mind immediately went to DEFCOM 2 when he saw that he wasn't wearing any clothes and that someone had her arms wrapped around him. When Saphir turned around and saw that the arms belonged to an equally nude Esmeraude he started to panic.

Saphir wasn't panicking because of Esmeraude's looks, except for her hands and lower arms which didn't offend Saphir at all Emerald had a supermodel's body. No what made Sapphire so nervous was the fact that he was a dead man breathing. It was well known among those living on Nemesis that Esmeraude was gunning to be Prince Demand's consort and had zero tolerance for anything that might hurt her chances of becoming the prince's bride. When Saphir considered that Esmeraude would figure that being 'ruined' would hurt her chances with his brother along with her legendary temper the only logical conclusion he got was that no one would be able to find his ashes after she finished scattering them across the Solar System.

After promising to destroy the still if he ever made it out alive, Saphir tried to think of a way to keep on living. For two or three minutes the mage panicked as nothing came to him, but then the solution came to him and he felt like an idiot for not thinking of it sooner. Saphir used his magic to silently teleport himself out of Esmeraude's grip and onto her bedroom floor. He quickly collected his clothes that were strewn about on the floor and teleported himself to his bedroom. Hopefully, Saphir prayed to his ancestors, Esmeraude would think that last night was only a dream.

* * *

"If I ever ascend to the throne, the first thing I'll do is declare Nemesis a dry planet" Saphir mutter to himself in his lab. It had been two weeks since the Esmeraude Escapade as Saphir had labeled his night where the cold green haired beauty in his mind and things had taken a one way trip to hell. For a second the mage almost wished that Esmeraude had woken up first and killed him in his sleep. At least that way, Saphir morbidly mused, he could have died in his sleep instead of having to deal with the consequences of that night.

Esmeraude never knew what had happen on that night. From what Saphir had heard from one of Rubeus's underlings gossiping Esmeraude thought that she had been playing with one of her toys while drunk that night. For the sake of his health insurance policy, Saphir was not inclined in the least to inform the woman what had really gone on. However, it seemed like the ancient gods had it out for the mage. When Saphir did Esmeraude's medical scan yesterday he had discovered that she was pregnant. Luckily his face and the computer screen were out of Esmeraude's view when that little bit of information popped up. Otherwise the mage would have probably been killed by her simply on the principal of killing the messenger.

Saphir had quickly erased the fact that Esmeraude was pregnant from the computer records and told her that she was in perfect health. What choice did he have? The instant that Esmeraude found out that she was carry the child of someone other then Prince Demand she would have used her magic to kill the child. It wouldn't matter that he was Demand's younger brother and thus that the little boy she was carrying was Demand's nephew. If the father wasn't the prince then Esmeraude would not become a mother. Esmeraude might have a beautify body, but her heart and soul were as cold as liquid nitrogen.

Returning his thoughts to the present, Saphir turned his head to look a large black canister sitting on his desk. Inside that canister was the most precious thing that Saphir had and it the one thing he would give up everything to protect: his embryonic son. Thanks to his extensive knowledge of the magical arts and the vast resources of his lab he had been able to quickly create this device. With it the mage had been able to discreetly remove his son from Esmeraude's womb without her knowing about it when she had teleported to the mall a few minutes ago.

With the immediate danger to his son's life removed Saphir started to see the long term problems that were going to develop. There was no way Saphir could just build an artificial womb and let his son grow in the lab. Not only would that raise the question of just why he had done such a thing in the first place, but it was also impossible for Saphir. That kind of magic just didn't exist to his knowledge and all his new device did was hold his son in stasis. Also, there was the fact that Nemesis wasn't exactly the best place to try and raise a child right now with Demand following Wiseman's advice. Saphir could read between the lines and he saw that there was going to be a war with Earth sometime in the next few years. Saphir definitely did not want to raise his son up in the middle of a war.

Suddenly a flash of inspiration hit Saphir. A few months ago his brother had pulled him aside and asked him to start researching practical time travel. While Saphir had been a bit skeptical about the whole time travel thing he had done as his brother had asked. Thanks to some magical items like the Nanban Mirror that had been in the royal family's possession for a millennium Saphir had been able to create a working time machine. His brother had completely forgotten about the request, but the device was still in his lab waiting to be used.

* * *

Nodoka was crying as she looked at the doctor's test results. She and Genma had been married for five years now and they didn't have a single child. For a woman who had always dreamed about having a large family the fact that she didn't have a single child caused a great deal of pain. What made the pain almost unbearable was the fact that it now appeared that she wouldn't be able to have children at all. According to the doctor's report that she had receive Genma's sperm count from a sample she had discreetly sent in was so low that there was almost no chance of Genma ever fathering a child.

What was she to do? All Nodoka had wanted out of life was to marry a good man and raise a happy family. Now it seemed that her dream would never fully come true. How could it come true as long as she was married to Genma? Thanks to her belief in honor she would never try to get the marriage dissolved or cheat on Genma. Silently Nodoka prayed to her ancestors asking for a way that she could have at least one child that wouldn't involve her cheating on her husband.

Suddenly a calm voice from behind Nodoka said, "Hello Nodoka Saotome." Nodoka turned around to see who the intruder and was surprised to see someone sitting in one of the living room chairs. The intruder was a bluish-black haired man dressed in strange clothes with a black upside-down crescent moon on his forehead. Nodoka had no clue how the man had gotten in her house and she was frightened by that fact.

The man smiled and raised his hands in a non threatening manner before saying, "Be at peace Nodoka for I mean you know harm. My name is Blue Saphir of the Black Moon Clan and I came here because we can both help each other out. You see Mrs. Saotome I am an alchemist and magician from the 30th century. According to my ancestor living in this era's journal the Saotome family died out with you and your husband Genma Saotome."

Part of Nodoka wanted to deny Saphir's words due to the pain they caused. After all, how could or why would someone travel a thousand years into the past? However, there was something about this Saphir that just made Nodoka realized that he was telling the truth. With tears in her eyes Nodoka sobbed out, "Why are you telling me this? If I truly never have a child in my life I would have preferred to have the chance to cling on to the faint hope that I could one day have a child."

Saphir walked over to Nodoka and gently gave her a comforting hug. It wasn't in his nature to cause other people pain and so he tried to help calm Nodoka down. Once Nodoka had stopped crying half an hour latter Saphir said, "I am sorry that my message has caused you pain Mrs. Saotome. However, I didn't travel into the past just to deliver this terrible news to you. If you would hear me out I have a proposal that would allow you to have a child and still keep your honor."

Instantly hope started to fill Nodoka's heart. Perhaps this future magician was her ancestors' answer to her prayers. With hope in her eyes Nodoka frantically said as Saphir sat down again, "What is your proposal?" She then immediately followed that by saying in a more nervous tone, "Why are you offering me this opportunity?"

Nodoka watched a black canister suddenly appeared on the coffee table in front of Saphir. In a very somber tone Saphir said, "A little over two weeks ago in my time I got drunk and accidentally slept with one of the members of the royal court that I belong to. This courtier is a very cold and calculating woman who will stop at nothing in her bid to become my brother, our ruler's, bride. Esmeraude, that's this courtier's name, would have killed our child that came from that night without a second thought. Luckily I am the only person who knew what truly happened on that night and that Esmeraude was pregnant. Using my magic I was able to secretly remove my son's embryo from her womb and place it into this container in front of me."

"In my time my brother is preparing for a major war that I fear will cost us greatly. Also, I don't have the magical ability to sustain my son so he can grow to the point that he can live without a womb. All of this, combined with the fact that my son's life would still be threatened even if the war is called off and I could get him to grow, is why I'm in the past. My hope Mrs. Saotome is that you would consent to allowing me to transfer my son into your womb and raise him as your own."

There was an immense amount of pain in Saphir's voice and eyes as he spoke. Nodoka could see that the man was truly worried about his son's life and was apparently trying something desperate to save the little one's life. After carefully thinking everything over Nodoka decided to accept Saphir's offer. One shouldn't reject a blessing just because it came in a slightly different form then one expected. In a calm voice she said, "I accept your offer Saphir."

Nodoka watched as relief washed over Saphir when he heard her accept the offer. Saphir reached over to the canister and gently pressed down on the center of the top of the canister. When Saphir's finger was withdrawn a small black diamond slowly rose from the container. To Nodoka's surprise a dark beam suddenly shot out of the diamond and hit her where her womb was. Although Nodoka was shocked that a beam was hitting her, she noted that she didn't feel any pain. After a few seconds the beam dissipated and then the canister faded from existence.

Saphir looked at Nodoka and said, "Thank-you for doing this Mrs. Saotome. Words can't describe how happy I am to know that my son is safe. Just remember: one cannot change the path behind them that they have walked, but one can change the path that they will walk." After saying those enigmatic words Saphir disappeared leaving Nodoka alone in her house again.

* * *

This whole misadventure was now officially FUBAR and Ranma knew it. Right now Ranma was wishing that Plum had never come to visit him in Nerima. Ranma was willing to compromise on a few things in order to try and get a cure for his curse, but there was no way he would accept a cure if it cost someone their life. Unfortunately due to a series of misunderstandings and stupidity on both sides Akane was dying and the only way he could save her life was being blocked by Saffron. This situation could have been avoided if the Phoenix tribe had just asked for the Jusenkyo map so they borrow the magical water for a few days.

Of course, given how arrogant their leader Saffron was this whole confrontation was all but inevitable. What infuriated Ranma the most about Saffron was the fact that this megalomaniac didn't care at all that Akane was dying. In fact the man seemed to be taking pleasure at his suffering over not being able to save the girl. Right now the urge to beat Saffron so badly that he thought he was a tweedy bird came second only to desire to save Akane's life.

But the question on Ranma's mind was how could he accomplish either of these goals? As long as Saffron was in the area the hot head wouldn't allow him to get Akane to the magical waters to save her life. On the other hand, Ranma couldn't see how he could defeat Saffron in time to save Akane. His best shot had been to use the Gekkaja that he had stolen earlier from the Phoenix people. Unfortunately Ranma had lost the Gekkaja a few moments ago when he had traded blows with Saffron when the bird brain was holding the Kinjakan. Ranma had been too surprised at having his attack deflected back at himself that he had accidentally lost his grip on the weapon.

Without the Gekkaja Ranma was up a creek without a paddle and he knew it. Saffron was just emitting too much heat for him to get close enough for hand to hand combat. The only range attack that Ranma could think of that might have a chance of working was the Hiryu Shoten Ha or a revision of that technique. However, he first needed the Gekkaja to create enough cold energy to be able to use the move. What made this situation all the more hopeless was the fact that he was falling in the air like a sitting duck with Saffron staring down at him.

Suddenly Ranma noticed Saffron's wings slow down until they were flapping at all. The next that the martial arts protégé noticed was the fact that he wasn't falling anymore. Ranma would have uttered his utter shock at what was going on, but he found that he couldn't open his mouth. In fact, he couldn't move any part of his body at all. This level of craziness was just not what Ranma needed right now and he wished he knew what was going on.

Just when Ranma thought things couldn't get any weirder he heard someone's voice speaking from out of no where. "Calm down Ranma" the masculine voice said strangely causing Ranma to calm down a bit. The voice then said, "My name is Blue Saphir Ranma and I am talking to you telepathically with my magic. Right now time is passing extremely slowly from our perspective because my magic is hyper accelerating both our consciousness."

Ranma was annoyed that this magician was interfering in such a critical battle and angrily snapped out with his mind, "Why are you doing this? If you haven't noticed I've got to save Akane's life. So if you don't mind I've got to figure out a way to win this battle."

Saphir's voice immediately replied, "You can't save the girl's life as you are now and you know it. Yes, there is a high chance that you will be able to figure out a way to defeat Saffron. However, there is almost no chance of you being able to figure out how to win in time to save the girl's life. In your heart you know that and it causes you pain. You don't want someone you know let alone someone you love like a sister to die."

If Ranma could he would have cried when he heard those words. It was something that he had been trying to deny so he could hang on to the hope that he could save Akane. He then called out, "Why are you telling me this Saphir? Do you want to torment me?"

In a soothing tone Saphir said, "I don't want to hurt you Ranma, I want to help you. There is a tremendous amount of magical power within you Ranma that has been sleeping for your entire life. Your sleeping magic is strong enough to kill Saffron in time for you to save the girl's life. I have the power to unlock your sleeping magic so that you can use Ranma, but there is a cost. If I awaken your magic it will consume almost your entire Chi to increase the amount of magical power you have. This consumption of your Chi to fuel your magic is sadly unavoidable and irreversible. If I awaken your magic, you will never be able to use Chi again at all for the rest of your life. It is unlikely that I'll be able to make this offer again Ranma so please consider all the consequences and choose wisely. You're the one who will have to live with the consequences of the choice."

Ranma didn't know to say or what he should do. He wanted to Akane, but to give up his abilities to use Chi to do it? Ever since the cat's tongue incident he had been using his Chi to augment his body's abilities. If he gave that up he wouldn't just be giving up moves like the Hiryu Shoten Ha or the Moko Takabisha, he'd be giving up almost half of his physical abilities as well. People like Kuno who he thoroughly trounced without breaking a sweat would become serious challenges again. Could he do it? Could he make that sacrifice?

But even as terrible as the thought of loosing his Chi abilities was to Ranma, the thought of letting Akane die was even worse. How could he face the Tendo's at tell them that Akane was dead because she had been forcibly involved in one of his adventures? Moreover, how could he live with himself knowing that he had traded Akane's life so that he could keep his abilities? With a heavy heart Ranma made his choice and he said, "Do it. Unlock my magic."

* * *

"Do it. Unlock my magic." Those words echoed in Saphir's mind as he felt every ounce of pain that his son felt over the thought of losing his abilities. When he had implanted Ranma, he thought the name Nodoka had chosen was very fitting; into Nodoka's womb he had sealed all of Ranma's magic. This was done so that no one could track Ranma via the boy's magic and thus the boy could be safe. Otherwise Ranma might be detected by the Sailor Senshi living in the 20th century and a confrontation might erupt between the boy and the Senshi for some dumb reason or another.

That was one reason why Saphir had been so angry when his brother had ordered the attacks in the 20th century. Not only did it increase the chance that Ranma might end up fighting the Senshi if they detected him, but it was pointless as well. The Black Moon's fight was, as pointless as it was, with Neo-Queen Serenity and Crystal Tokyo. Attacking the Senshi in a parallel version of the 20th century was just creating a second front to the war.

Saphir forced himself to ignore the war going on and focus all of his effort on helping his son. Around Saphir's wrist was a small black pendant that was linked to the seal on Ranma's magic. The pendant had allowed Saphir to stay linked with Ranma and know the boy's condition for the past decade even though he had lost the first six years of Ranma's life due to an initial problem he had with adding that feature to the pendant. Saphir calmly said the activation phrase, "Cast out of the Heavens, arise and claim your proper place."

* * *

Back in the 20th century, Ranma felt like a dam within him had just broken and all the power that the dam had been holding back was flooding his very being. As his newly unlocked magic encountered the massive amounts of Chi that was stored in his body the magic consumed the Chi and grew stronger. Unfortunately for Ranma, the conversion process was unbelievably painful and every cell in his body felt like it was on fire. Also Ranma could actually feel his streangth leaving him as his Chi dwindled to the point that it was just enough to sustain his life.

Once the physical pain of the conversion process ended Ranma felt better then ever. The new mana that was now flowing through Ranma had healed the physical damaged that the conversion had done and had filled the teen with a sense of euphoria. Ranma could feel his mana and he loved how it felt. His mana was wild, untamed, and powerful. It sang to him about how powerful it was, how with it he was unstoppable.

The new feelings that Ranma's mana evoked in him almost caused Ranma to become intoxicated with euphoria. This was because the type of mana that Chaos Magic used was very emotionally charged when it was called into use. Normally magic users who used Chaos Magic would gradually build up their magical abilities and learn to keep themselves emotionally grounded. If a Chaos Magic user lost their cool then their mana would carry them away and the magic user would become temporarily insane until their mana stores were exhausted.

Normally in such a case a chaos user like Ranma, who just gained one of the largest pools of magic known and who had no training in chaos magic, would have been driven temporarily insane. Luckily for Ranma sanity he had two things going for him kept him grounded. The first thing helping to ground Ranma was his curse. Jusenkyo was, not all that surprisingly, a chaos mana wellspring which was why the pools were 'cursed'. Every time the curse was activated Ranma had been exposed to minute amounts of chaos mana. Those tiny amounts of chaos mana had mixed with his previously locked stores of mana resulting in his water magnet status. What really mattered at the moment was the fact that this process had also partially immunized Ranma to the nastier effects of chaos mana.

The second thing that saved Ranma's sanity was the very reason why Ranma had his mana stores unlocked. Every ounce of Ranma's being was focused on the single goal of saving Akane's life. This determination allowed Ranma to cut through the mental haze his magic was creating and focus on a single goal. Sure, the sheer amount of magic Ranma now possessed meant that it had some influenced on his mental state. However, Ranma still more then sane enough to use his magic at the level he was using it on for now. With a magically enhanced rage filled voice Ranma screamed out, "Prepare yourself Saffron for today is the day you DIE!"

* * *

Ryoga, Mousse, Shampoo, and a still mind controlled Genma were watching the titanic battle between Ranma and Saffron from the relative safety of the cliff they were on. Both the boys had felt a lump in their chests when Ranma had lost the Gekkaja. Normally they would have been elated to witness Ranma getting his butt handed to him on a sliver platter, but not this time. The stakes were just too high in this battle for both boys and they were both, although they would deny it to their dying day, praying for Ranma's victory.

Everyone hiding on the cliff was surprised when Ranma suddenly screamed out in agony and a purplish-black aura of energy suddenly came from the pigtailed boy. None of them had a clue what Ranma had done or what that energy was. They knew from their senses that the energy Ranma was generating now equaled if not surpassed the power that Saffron had. Shampoo was first to speak up and she said, "What is that energy that Arien use?"

Ryoga immediately said, "I don't have a clue. Whatever it is, it's definitely not chi."

Mousse then retorted while playing with his glasses, "Once again Ranma pulls a new trick out of his ass when the chips are down. I swear he comes up with more crazy tricks for these times then the weapons I have up my sleeves." What was left unsaid was just how relived Mousse was that Ranma had done this.

No one on the cliff could hear Ranma or Saffron when the two were talking, but they knew that Ranma had just said something that had incensed the Phoenix King. What else could cause Saffron's posture to suddenly switch from anger to pure hatred? The assembled members of the NWC then watched as Saffron sent the largest pillar of fire that any of them had ever seen towards Ranma. The trio's eyes then immediately darted to Ranma so they could see what he would do. Genma was too busy doing a remarkable impression of a dodo bird for a panda because of the mind control to pay serious attention to the fight.

To the trio's surprise Ranma had his hand on a large ball of the energy that was surrounding him. They watched as Ranma launched his unknown attack at the pillar of fire. When the two attacks collided in mid-air a huge amount of black lighting formed and the lighting bolts struck everywhere. Although they were afraid of the lighting hitting them, the trio nevertheless continued to watch the battle.

They breathlessly watched as Ranma's attack began to burrow into Saffron's attack creating streams of fire that shot out like a deflected stream of water. Each of the teens started cheering Ranma on as their friend's attack steadily cut through Saffron's. Time seemed to stop for a split second when Ranma's attack finished cutting through Saffron's attack and collided with the Phoenix King himself. Then Ranma's attack exploded in a blinding flash of light forcing the on lookers to divert their gaze.

When the trio returned their gaze to the battlefield the saw that all that remained of Saffron was the tip of one of his wings. They also watched as Ranma fell to the ground with a thud. Ryoga was the first to speak and he said, "Ranma must have put everything he had into that attack to insure that Saffron died." This statement earned a round of head nods from the Amazons.

Suddenly Ryoga remember why this last brawl had started in the first place. In a panic voice he said, "Oh no! Akane still needs the water from the Dragon Tap or she'll die!" Ryoga then turned to Mousse and said, "Throw me at the Dragon Tap Mousse. It's the only way we can get the water to Akane in time."

Mousse nodded his head and double checked to make sure that his glasses were on. Now was NOT the time for vanity to get in the way of seeing the target. He only had one shot to help save Akane's life. It was an unwritten rule among the NWC that no matter what anyone said or did that no one was to be permanently hurt or killed. Besides, he needed Akane around to help him get Shampoo for himself. And so for good and selfish reasons Mousse grabbed Ryoga by the arm and started spinning in a circle. Once Mousse was sure that he had put enough moment in the spin he sent Ryoga flying strait towards the Dragon Tap.

As soon as Ryoga closed in on the Dragon Tap he stretched out his hand a cried out, "Bakusai Tenketsu!" The Dragon Tap was completely destroyed when Ryoga's finger touched the tap unleashing a torrent of water. Ryoga was one happy little porker as he was carried by the water to where Ranma and Akane were lying. Oh he just couldn't wait to see Akane safe and sound. He could just see her in his mind thanking him for saving her life.

Ryoga was so into his fantasy of Akane thanking him that he didn't pay attention to where the water was carrying him. Naturally Ryoga was knocked out of his daydream when he felt himself hit something and then land on something soft. When Ryoga opened his eyes he saw that he was lodged between Ranma's breasts. Even though the lost boy knew that Ranma was really a boy his shyness kicked in and the porker was out cold.

* * *

Author's Notes: Just so people know this story was inspired in part by _Child of light born in darkness_.


	2. Chapter 2

Ranma groggily opened his eyes as the early morning sunlight hit his eyes and he wished that he could just roll back asleep. After all, fighting Saffron to save Akane was- Suddenly Ranma realized just what he was thinking and he bolted up and looked around. To his surprise he saw that he was currently in a sleeping bag that was in a tent. Confused about just where he could be, Ranma weakly said, "What? What's going on? Where's Akane? Why do I feel so weak?"

As soon as Ranma said that the memory of what had happened during his fight with Saffron returned. Ranma remembered Saphir's words that he would lose his chi abilities and immediately tried summon his chi. Much to Ranma's disappointment he couldn't find his chi at all except for the minuscule untouchable bit that sustained his life. At that moment the price that he had paid really hit home and tears started to form in Ranma's eyes.

Very soon Ranma broke out in tears and started to cry into his sleeping bag. It was gone, all gone. All the special abilities he had worked so hard this past year to learn, all the hard training he had undergone since coming to Nerima, any chance to learn a new move or to ever grow stronger was gone forever. He had offered it all up in order to save his friend's life. Even though he would have made the trade again in a heartbeat if he could have gone back to the time that Saphir had made that offer, it still hurt.

Martial Arts were Ranma's life and everyone in Nerima knew it. Ranma loved the thrill that came with pushing oneself to the limits and then surprising those limits. His idea of the perfect way to relax was to read about a martial art technique and try to figure out how he could train to learn the move. One of the few things that Ranma had truly been proud of in his life was his prowess in Martial Arts.

Now all of that was gone. Sure Ranma could continue to practice Martial Arts, but now he was facing the limitations that 'ordinary' people faced. His body was already in peck condition so he couldn't get any stronger or faster. While Ranma could further refine his skills so that he was more efficient with his hand to hand or weapon usage, he didn't see much point in doing that. The spark that the art used to have to him just seemed to be yet another offering he had given in his bid to save Akane's life.

Ranma was too busy crying to notice the rustling of his tent flap or that Ryoga had walked into the tent. It had been the lost boy's turn to stand watch by Ranma's tent and he had come to investigate the crying that Ranma was making. Ryoga had a slightly clueless look on his face when he saw Ranma crying because he couldn't understand why his rival would be crying. In an attempt to end the tears Ryoga said, "Akane made it Ranma. We were able to get her to the Dragon Tap in time."

The news that his sacrifice had not been in vain gave Ranma the strength he needed to push back the tears and stop crying. After Ranma whipped away the tears he stood up and walked out of the tent. When Ranma walked out into the open air he saw Shampoo cheerfully cooking by a small fire with Akane nearby observing her. Mousse was sitting next to one of the assembled tents and he was carefully cleaning his vast weapons collection. Pops was sitting on a log across the fire from Shampoo as a panda apparently waiting for breakfast to be served.

Most people back in Nerima would have been utterly shocked to see so many members of the NWC in one place acting like civilized people to one another. The fact of the matter was that after so many insane misadventures together these six individuals, along with Ukyo, had developed a sense of companionship. Sure that companionship was strained at times whenever some members of the group tried to further their goals in life or when some crazy adventure started. But in the end, the NWC stuck together and protected its members from anyone who seriously threatened the group. Personally Ranma wouldn't give up any of his bonds with the NWC in spite of the grief and unique chaos that each member brought to the table.

Shampoo was the first one to notice that Ranma was up and she happily cried out, "Arien!" This caused everyone else to notice that Ranma was awake as well. Mousse's response made it sound like he wasn't happy that Ranma was awake even though Ranma knew otherwise. Akane's response was delivered in a little more timid manner then she spoke, but Ranma knew that was because she was still dealing with the fact that she almost died. He knew that by the time everyone got home Akane would be back to her usual spirited self. Finally Genma's sign simply had good morning son written on it which showed just how worried he had been about Ranma since it didn't have any of his usual insults.

Ranma gave everyone his normal smug smile and said, "Thanks guys." He then sat down on one of the logs that were around the fire and asked for something to eat. Naturally Shampoo had been expecting this and she had already filled a bowel of oatmeal for him. When Shampoo offered Ranma the bowel he accepted it with a simple thank-you and immediately started to chow down. Ranma didn't bother check for any types of potions because he knew that Shampoo wouldn't start that up again until at least one week had passed once everyone got back to Nerima. It was just another one of the NWC's unspoken unwritten rules that governed the group's internal chaos.

Once Ranma had been able to eat two bowls and was working on his third at a normal pace Shampoo asked, "Arien? What was the power that you use in fight? It no feel like Arien's chi." Shampoo like everyone else had wanted to just what Ranma had done to save Akane's life.

Although Shampoo didn't mean any harm by asking that question Ranma winced slightly like he had been hit. Knowing that the truth would eventually come out Ranma gathered his courage and answered Shampoo. "After I lost the Gekkaja I felt time slow down. I was then contacted by some sort of magician who said that I had a powerful magical force sleeping in me for all my life. This magician claimed that my magic was strong enough to destroy Saffron and that he could unlock it for me. I decided that unlocking my magic was worth the cost and had him unlock it. Looks like it paid off."

While everyone was surprised at what Ranma had said, none of them were really shocked. After all of the weird stuff they had experience a magician telepathically contacting someone offering to unlock a sleeping power wasn't that hard to accept. It did offer a perfectly logical explanation about how Ranma had found the strength to kill Saffron. Genma, who had the most experience with quickly made deals coming back to haunt someone, pulled out a sign and stuck it in Ranma's face. On the sign was written, "What did you offer the magician for this power boy?"

Ranma chuckled a bit and said, "I didn't offer the magician anything for unlocking my magic Pops." He then continued in a more somber tone, "When my magic was unlocked it consumed my chi and used my chi to further increase the amount of magic that I have. Even now every bit of chi I generate besides what I need to keep on living is immediately converted by my body into mana for my magic. The process is completely irreversible; I had to give up my chi abilities forever."

As soon as Ranma said that he threw his half empty bowl onto the ground and bolted from the campfire. The pain that losing his chi abilities was just too raw for Ranma to handle anything that his friends and father might say. Right now all Ranma wanted to do was get away from the camp and the memories that seeing everyone brought him.

* * *

Back at the campsite everyone was staring in complete shock at where Ranma had been sitting. What Ranma had just told them was too much for any of them to really accept. Ranma, the premier martial artist of his generation, had actually given up his chi? Even Akane, who was the least skill of the assembled martial artists in chi usage, knew how important the ability to use chi was. Being without the physical enhancement or the special abilities that chi usage brought was just something none of them could imagine anymore. chi usage was so vital to being a martial artist in Nerima that even people with black belts in several different styles were considered 'civilians' if they couldn't use chi.

Ryoga was the first person to break the silence and said, "You don't suppose that Ranma was just pulling our legs by saying that?" Even though Ryoga knew that Ranma wouldn't kid about something like this he hoped that Ranma hadn't been telling the truth. Yes he wanted Ranma to suffer the pain that he had felt, but this was not what Ryoga had in mind whenever he said that. It was one thing to pound Ranma into the ground and have the unfaithful boy be humiliated. Having someone lose his or her chi abilities was something that Ryoga wouldn't wish on anyone.

Silently Ryoga started to curse Saffron for robbing him of his victory over Ranma. It was all Saffron's fault for not letting Akane get the water. If Saffron had allowed Akane to the get the water then Ranma would still have his chi and the two of them could finally have their man to man match. With how Ranma was now, any victory that Ryoga could have in a match against the boy would be hollow. Where was the honor in fighting someone who was basically a cripple?

Mousse looked down at the weapon he had been cleaning and said, "Get real Ryoga. You know as well I do that Ranma would never joke about something like this. What I want to know is how this magician knew about Ranma's magic and how Ranma found the strength to give up his chi." In Mousse's heart he felt ashamed because of how long it had taken him to decided to let Shampoo have her free will. He had dallied so long over that choice whereas Ranma had been willing offer up something that was so essential to the pig-tailed boy to save a friend's life.

The hidden weapons master knew one thing about Ranma's lost that none of the other NWC members could hope to match. With that sacrifice the NWC's so called leader/victim had proven beyond a doubt that he was the best of the lot. Maybe not in terms of his skill or power, but Ranma was definitely the best in terms of his character. All Mousse could think to do now was to wait and see just how the lost of Ranma's chi abilities affected the situation back in Nerima.

Shampoo couldn't say anything at all because she was still too shocked to really pay attention to the outside world. One of the things that she loved about Ranma was his martial arts and how passionate he was about the art. It wasn't that she was in love with the fact that Ranma was better then her in the art, it was because she loved seeing a person so in tune with the martial arts. The Amazon village had many martial artists, but none of them were as naturally in tune with the art as Ranma was. That her Arien had been willing to give all of that up to save Kitchen Destroyer's life just shook the very foundations of her world view.

What worried Shampoo even more then Ranma's loss of his chi was the possibility of losing him. The laws regarding the Kiss of Death and the Kiss of Marriage were fairly strait forward, but there were clauses in those laws that most people didn't know about. Shampoo knew about these clauses and right now she was afraid of the cripple clause. According to the clause if an Amazon hasn't bedded her husband and the husband is seriously crippled then an Elder can annul the marriage. The real problem with the clause for Shampoo was the fact that any Amazon Elder could make the annulment and there were several back in the village who wanted the village champion back in the village.

Akane was wishing she could find a deep hole that she could crawl inside. It was just too painful for her to accept that Ranma had sacrificed what he did in order to save her life. Then she remembered that this was Ranma and that while his move was very atypical of him it still believable. She knew that Ranma could act like a jerk at times and bent his honor a bit when he had a chance to try and cure his cure. However, other then those times he could be a reasonable young man. Sure Ranma wasn't man that she could see as a boyfriend or as a husband, but he was still a good man.

Right now Akane was praying for two things to happen: Ranma regaining his chi abilities and that Ranma hadn't made his sacrifice because he was in love with her. She was hoping that maybe the magician had been lying about the cost or maybe the magician had made a mistake. Such things had happened often enough that Akane couldn't dismiss that possibility. As for why she hoped that Ranma hadn't made his sacrifice because he was in love with her that was for a purely selfish reason. Akane knew that if Ranma had made his sacrifice for that reason it would eat her up for the rest of her life because she couldn't find it in her heart to love Ranma in that manner. It would have been too much for her to see the pain on Ranma's face if after he gave so much up it was for nothing.

Genma didn't know what he should do about Ranma's announcement. One the one hand he was furious that Ranma had given up the ability to use chi. He had dedicated over a decade of his life to insuring that Ranma became one of the best martial artists in the world. That was something that just wasn't possible without Chi Abilities. How was the boy supposed to carry on the proud Anything Goes tradition if he couldn't use all of the school?

On the other hand, Genma couldn't help but feel proud of Ranma. The boy had given everything he had to save his fiancée's life. Surely that proved how much the boy loved Akane. When they got back home he and Soun could commence with Operation: Get 'Em Hitched! Then once an heir was born he could train the heir to continue on the family tradition. Sure that meant that he'd have to put off his retirement for several more years, but it was for the future of the schools.

* * *

Ranma stopped running about a mile away from camp and fell to his knees panting. His muscles were practically screaming at him for running so far so fast. Before the battle a run like he had just gone on wouldn't even have left him winded. It just drove home even further to Ranma how much he had used his chi and everything that he had given up. This reminder about what he lost started to make Ranma feel depressed again.

Luckily for Ranma's mental well being, a part of him remembered the power that he had gained from that magician. Ranma slowly raised his hands and looked at them as he sat on the ground. With that magic stuff that had been unlocked he had been able to kill Saffron. It seemed almost unreal that he could have that kind of power at his disposal. Part of Ranma wondered if he could tap into his magic and use it as a substitute for his chi. After all, energy was energy no matter what according to the science teacher or something like that. He had been catching up on lost slept that day in class due to an all night adventure.

After sitting down in a lotus position, Ranma closed his eyes and concentrated on finding his magic. True this method was usually used to find one's chi, but Ranma didn't have a clue how mages were supposed to find their magic and so he was using what he knew and improvising. At first, Ranma didn't have any luck in finding his mana through meditation. However, the pigtailed boy was so determined to find his mana that he just kept searching. Eventually Ranma's determination paid off and he found his massive mana reserves.

The first thing that Ranma noticed was not how massive his magical reserves were, but just how different mana felt when he compared it to chi. If Ranma was ever asked to describe how chi felt he would have to say that it felt like water. It flowed through the body like gentle stream that with training could have its flow sped up or slowed down. Once a person learned how to become aware of his or her own chi flow one could direct chi like opening up a faucet. On the other hand mana felt sticky like tar or very thick syrup. It didn't flow through the body at all. Rather, it seemed to rest in a giant well waiting undisturbed until he called it up.

Now that Ranma knew he could locate his magic he immediately ended his meditation. The real question in his mind was whether or not he could sense his mana without going into a deep meditative trance. In Ranma's mind being able to sense his mana without thinking about it had to be the first step in learning to use magic. After all, one couldn't use magic in a battle if the power couldn't be consciously called up in a split second.

Unfortunately for Ranma he couldn't sense his magic at all when his consciousness returned to the real world. This failure frustrated Ranma causing him to pound his fist into the ground. Afterwards Ranma said, "Keep your cool Ranma. Just think of this as another martial arts challenge. Yah, that's the ticket. This is just another challenge to win and once I do I'll be back on top. After all, I don't lose."

At that moment Ranma heard the faint sound of a nearby stream. Ranma wondered how he could have not known about there being a nearby stream when he normally would have known that it was nearby long ago. Once again Ranma was forced to remember that he didn't have his chi enhancing his senses anymore. Ranma also remembered that he had been too focused on his loss and then on trying to find his mana to pay attention to his surroundings.

The dryness in his mouth reminded Ranma that he hadn't had anything to drink since before his fight with Saffron. Ranma immediately got up and started walking towards the sound of the stream. Even though Ranma figured that he would end up in his female form when he finished quenching his thirst the pigtailed boy didn't care. Being a girl until he could get back to the camp was far more preferable to suffering from dehydration.

When Ranma got to the slow moving stream, he kneeled down by the edge of the stream and was about to put his hands in the water when he paused. Resting on his forehead was a small black crescent moon. At first Ranma wondered why no one back at the camp had commented on the strange marking earlier, but then he figured out the answer. The crescent was high enough on his forehead that it must have been hidden from everyone's sight by his bangs.

A stray thought crossed Ranma's mind and he burst out laughing. "Man, if Kuno see's this he'll probably claim that is proof that I'm some sort vile sorcerer. Considering the fact that I use magic now instead of Chi I guess he'd be partially correct. Wow, Kuno getting something right for once. Now that's a scary thought."

Ranma then shook his head, cupped his hands, and plunged them into the water triggering his curse. He then greedily drank handful after handful of the clean steam water. When Ranma had had his fill he casually whipped away the extra water on his face with his arm. His eyes drifted back to the stream and he noticed that the black crescent symbol was still on his forehead. This confused Ranma because he didn't expect to see the symbol when he was in his cursed form. Sure he wasn't an expert on strange symbols that suddenly appeared for no reason, but the strange markings his other cursed friends had encountered in their misadventures usually didn't appear on their cursed forms. Well there was Ryoga's "mark of the battling god" which had affected the lost boy's pig form, but the mark hadn't actually appeared on the pig's body as far as Ranma could remember.

For the moment Ranma decided to forget about the strange mark on his forehead. He had more important things to do right now then worry about some mark. Things like getting back to camp for instance. Ranma then go up and started jogging back to camp. During the entire trip back Ranma was going over what he could do to gain control of his magic.

* * *

Prince Demand looked on in horror as he saw his brother dying in his arms. As Demand gently cradled Saphir's bloody body his said, "All of this is my fault Saphir. You should have been the Prince instead of me. I'm totally unsuited to be the ruler, I'm too easy for someone to influence. Father should have broken with tradition and made you the Prince. With you on the throne none of this mess would have happened. Please brother, forgive me for my weakness."

Saphir coughed up some blood and then he said, "Don't blame yourself brother for what's going on. I share some of the blame since I wasn't strong enough to get you to see what Wiseman was doing to us. In a way my death is quite ironic. Promise me you won't do anything rash when I'm dead brother. Let me tell you a secret that I've kept for over a decade."

Despite the situation at hand Prince Demand wondered what his brother could be keeping a secret for so long. He then leaned closer so that Saphir wouldn't have to strain so much to speak. In a soft childlike manner Prince Demand said, "Please brother. Tell what this secret is."

The manner that Prince Demand asked about the secret reminded Saphir of when they were little boys trading secrets they had learned about the palace and caused Saphir to let out a small chuckle. Unfortunately for Saphir his chuckling caused him to cough up more blood. Once he managed to stop coughing the alchemist said, "There is one other member of our clan left brother and Wiseman has no hold over him. This person is my son Ranma. I sent him into the past to the 20th century to insure that he would be safe from Wiseman. Please protect and guide him brother, I've done everything that I could to help him. He lives in," Saphir couldn't finish his sentence before the last of his strength left him.

Prince Demand couldn't believe what his brother had just told him. Saphir had a son, he had a nephew! However, Demand's elation over this news quickly vanished when he remembered that Wiseman was nearby. That sick twisted monster had been manipulating his clan ever since it had arrived on Nemesis. Demand could see that clearly now that his eyes had been opened. He could also see that if Wiseman knew about Ranma then the monster would manipulate the boy as well into fighting Crystal Tokyo. All it could take was a moment of weakness an a few half-truths and then Wiseman would have yet another pawn to continue its insane war.

No! Prince Demand swore by all of his ancestors that he would not allow Wiseman to plague his clan anymore. This mess ended right here right now so that at least one member of the clan would survive safe and sound from this monster. If it took his life to vanquish this monster then so be it. Demand closed his brother's lifeless eyes and said, "I promise that this nightmare will end brother."

As Prince Demand got up off of the floor he spotted Black Lady and Sailor Moon standing back from him. He remembered the line of an old epic poem and said, "A face that launched a thousand ships." His eyes then hardened and he said, "Get out of here princesses and tell Neo-Queen Serenity that I am sorry that this whole mess started." Then the prince of Nemesis turned to face Wiseman and said, "This has gone on long enough Wiseman I'll kill you with my own two hands."

Wiseman chuckled darkly and said, "You kill me? My dear prince, don't you realize what you're saying? I am your truest friend, your most trusted confident, and your loyal servant. Those members of the clan who died were traitors who were working with Neo-Queen Serenity to insure that justice doesn't come to the people of Nemesis. She is the source of all of the pain that your people have suffered for the past thousand years. Can't you see how close you are to making her pay for all the misery she's called?"

Prince Demand listened to Wiseman's words and felt the creature's magic try to influence him into believing the abomination's words. Before Saphir's death Demand would have believed what Wiseman said like it was the gospel truth. Luckily he was now aware of what was going on and he was able to resist the lure of the words. Prince Demand opened his third eye and said with utter hatred in his voice, "Your words hold no power over me anymore."

This defiance caused Wiseman to growl in frustration before saying, "If you will not serve me 'Prince' Demand, then you shall die!" Wiseman then stood up and tore off his cloak revealing that his body was actually a skeleton with blacken bones held together by magic. Wiseman's fiery eyes, which were actual balls of fire inside his eye sockets, glared at Prince Demand. The skeleton gave a mocking bow and said, "Surprised by my true form? Allow me to properly introduce myself, I am the Death Phantom."

While Sailor Moon and Black Lady each took a step backwards in shock because of the Death Phantom, Prince Demand held firm. There occasionally comes a time when a warrior will know with complete certainty that if he or she fights in a battle that he or she will not come out of the battle alive. As Demand stared at the Death Phantom and felt the creature's power he knew that his time had come. So strange, the prince thought, even though he knew he was going to die he didn't feel afraid of his approaching end. The only thing he felt was a bit of remose that he wouldn't be able to help his nephew out. With a far away look on his face Prince Demand said, "Sorry brother for not completely fulfilling your last wish. Please, rest easier in the afterlife knowing that I will keep him safe from this monster."

Sailor Moon and Black Lady watched as purplish-black magical aura erupted from Prince Demand's body. A strange purple-black seal suddenly appeared under Demand and quickly spread out so that both Demand and the Death Phantom were standing in the seal. The mother daughter duo then watched in shock a small swirling black void suddenly appeared on Demand's body where his heart should be. Demand calmly said, "Prepare yourself for your demise Death Phantom. This is the ultimate forbidden chaos spell ever created. With it I will kill you and completely destroy your soul."

Prince Demand then let loose a small chuckle and said, "Of course, to use such a powerful spell I'll have to destroy my own soul in the process." The prince's eyes started to glow with a purple light as he continued on, "But I feel that this is a small price to pay in insure that you never plague me family ever again. The prince is dead, LONG LIVE THE PRINCE!" Demand's body was then swallowed by the void that had formed in his chest.

After Demand's body was swallowed the seal on the floor started collapsing back on the void. The Death Phantom tried to walk away from the seal, but it found that it was blocked by some sort of force field. It then attempted to teleport away and found that something was preventing it from teleporting as well. Next the abomination tried to blast its way out of the seal and that failed as well. For the first time in its long life the Death Phantom felt actual fear as it was pushed ever closer to the void. In a last ditch attempt to escape the monster tried to destroy the void, but all of its attacks were simply absorbed by the void. As Death Phantom was shoved into the void it let out a final anguishing scream before it was completely eradicated.

* * *

Author's Notes: For the Black Moon Clan I used the original names instead of the dubbed names. That's why I have Prince Demand instead of Prince Diamond, Saphir instead of Sapphire etc. I just wanted to say this because of some the reviews I've gotten about the names.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: If any of the names seem confusing see author's note down at the bottom.

Ranma opened his eyes and immediately wondered where he was as this place wasn't the tent that he remembered falling asleep in. Normally Ranma wouldn't worry too much about waking up in a strange place since it happened all the time to him. However, this time Ranma didn't have his reality defying martial arts to defend himself with if something were to attack him. What made Ranma even more worried about this situation was the fact that he couldn't see any of his traveling companions nearby. As agonizingly painful as it was for Ranma to admit, he needed his friends to protect him for now until he learned how to use his magic.

In an attempt to keep his cool Ranma carefully observed where he was to try and get as much information as possible. However, it was difficult for Ranma to learn much about this place because there wasn't much there. To his left was a large western style fireplace that had a lit fire inside which was the sole source of light. The floor appeared to be made out of finished wood and there were two chairs that faced each other to Ranma's right. Besides that all Ranma could see was a never ending expanse of darkness.

Suddenly a voice called out from the darkness, "Do not be alarmed Ranma." Then a dark haired man dressed in strange clothes walked out of the darkness. What struck Ranma the most about this man was the fact that he also had a black upside down crescent moon on his forehead.

There was something about the man's voice that was bothering Ranma's memory and then it came to him. Ranma suddenly said, "It's you. You're the magician who unlocked my magic. What are you doing here and where are we?"

The man shook his head and said, "I am not Saphir. I am an echo of Saphir that Saphir imprinted into your mind Ranma. You see, Saphir knew that he most likely wouldn't have the chance to teach you about your magic so he left you me to teach you. I know everything that Saphir knew up until he finished unlocking your magic. So you don't get confused about me and the real Saphir why don't you just call me Sapphire. As to where this place is, it is a dreamscape that has been created so that I can train you while your body rests."

Ranma thought about what Sapphire had just told him and then he nodded his head. He was extremely grateful to Saphir for leaving Sapphire behind. Always eager to learn new techniques, even if up until now it had been martial arts techniques, Ranma clasped his hands together and said, "Let's get started. So what do I learn first?"

Sapphire gave a small chuckle and then said, "Hold on a second Ranma. Before we can get started I need to talk to you about magic in general." Ranma's expression became a little more somber when he realized that he wouldn't be able to just jump right in and learn about magic. Sapphire placed his hand on Ranma's shoulder and said, "Now Ranma. How can you expect to learn how to properly use your mana if you first don't learn the basics of magic? Think of it this way, you didn't start learning the martial arts by learning how to manipulate chi. It's the same way with magic. Now then, let's go sit down in those chairs over there and then I start your first lesson."

Once they were both sitting down Sapphire started the lesson. "Ranma, there are ultimately only two types of magic that a person can use. Either a person's magic is Order Magic or a person's magic is Chaos Magic. The type of magic a person can wield appears to be set at birth and it is extremely rare for an Order magician to become a Chaos magician or vice versa. Nether type of magic is "good" or "evil" and nether type is better or worse then the other. Order Magic can be thought of as representing the harmonious and stable forces in the universe which allow things to exist. Chaos Magic can be thought of as representing the changing and unpredictable forces in the universe which allow things to grow."

"As you can plainly see, both types of magic complement and complete each other. Also, both types of magic can usually achieve the same results for any task that the mage wishes to achieve. However, Order Magic and Chaos Magic will achieve these results by different means. For example, let's suppose that an order mage and a chaos mage both wanted to swim underwater without bringing any scuba gear. An order mage would cast a spell that would create a barrier around the mage's nose and mouth that would allow oxygen to be filtered through. A chaos mage on the other hand would cast a spell that would alter the mage's lungs allowing him or her to breath underwater. Do you follow me Ranma?"

Ranma blinked his eyes once and immediately said, "Yah, same results different means to do it." He actually was able to follow most of what Sapphire was telling him. Sure, Ranma got a little confused when Sapphire started being philosophical about the two types of magic. However, the nuts and bolts of Sapphire's speech were crystal clear to Ranma. It was a lot like martial arts where there were hard styles and soft styles. Both styles allowed you to defend yourself, but they did it in different ways.

Seeing that Ranma understood what he was trying to say, Sapphire decided to move on. "As you may have guessed Ranma, you are a chaos mage. This means that you have to be careful whenever you use your magic and especially carefully when you first start practicing magic. Chaos Mana, being a force of change and unpredictability, will supercharge your emotions. If you don't learn to mentally ground yourself in reality then your magic will drive you to insanity every time you use a significant amount of it. Your mind is in essence within the eye of a typhoon every time you summon your magic. Leave that eye, and you will be swept away until the storm dies down."

"For the next several hours you will be practicing different calming techniques and learning how to summon a tiny portion of your magic. Since you have such a large reserve of mana it is absolutely critical that you learn to stay calm and control your emotions. This also has the side benefit of allowing you to keep your cool when you deal with other people." Sapphire had a small wise guy smile as he finished speaking. The duo then got started on the calming techniques and practiced them until morning.

* * *

Neo-Queen Serenity smiled at her young counterpart Sailor Moon and said counterpart's Sailor Senshi. The neo-queen then said, "Thank you Sailor Scouts for helping us end the war between Crystal Tokyo and Nemesis. Now that the creature known as Wiseman is no more, peace shall once more return to the land. Always remember that the light of Truth, Love and Justice always triumphs against the darkness. During those times when all seems lost that light will guide you to victory."

Usagi bowed her head towards her future self and said, "Thank you your majesty. However, we cannot accept all of the credit since it was Prince Demand who defeated Wiseman at the cost of his own life. Also your highness, what about the people of Nemesis and Chibiusa?"

A far away look entered Neo-Queen Serenity's eyes as she said, "You are correct Sailor Moon about Prince Demand's role in ending this war. Tragic though his story may be, it does show that the light can come to those in darkness even when the end is near. The people of Nemesis are not your concern Sailor Moon, but rest assured that the situation between Crystal Tokyo and them will be solve so that a mutually beneficial arrangement is reached. As for Small Lady, see for yourself."

On queue Chibiusa walked into the room and then ran towards Sailor Moon. However, before Chibiusa could reach Sailor Moon she tripped and fell on the floor of the palace. Chibiusa immediately stood up and scratched the back of her head nervously. As she was doing this she said, "Sorry about that. I have some balance problems do to Wiseman's spell being broken. My mother has promised me that everything will get better soon."

Neo-Queen Serenity warmly smiled at Chibiusa and said, "That is correct my dear daughter. Soon you will be as graceful as you once were." The neo-queen then turned to the 20th century Sailor Scouts and said, "Now then I believe that you've been in this time long enough. Your place is in our past as our place is in your future. If you go down the hall and take a left you will meet the Sailor Pluto from your time and she is here to return you to the 20th century. Take care and remember the light."

Once the Sailor Scouts left the room Neo-Queen Serenity turned to her daughter and said, "We're alone now daughter. You may drop the disguise field." Chibiusa nodded her head once and then she was completely covered in a bright silvery light. Her silvery outline then morphed into the form of a teenager. When the light that was surrounding Chibiusa disappeared, a slightly younger, curvier, and more talented version of the Black Lady stood in Chibiusa's spot. This young woman was now wearing a white dress and she had a golden crescent moon on her forehead.

Usa turned to face her mother and said, "Why do I have to pretend to be a little girl mother? Whenever I use that disguise pen I loose my balance and my magic is all messed up. The disguise pen was meant for short term reconnaissance by disguising a person as someone else of similar size and mass. It was never intended for 24/7 usage and it was especially not designed to be used to pretend to be someone significantly smaller then the user."

Neo-Queen Serenity let out a small sigh and gently placed her hands on Usa's shoulders. Then in a very kind and understanding tone she said, "I know that the disguise pen wasn't meant for this Usa. If I could I would use the Ginzushou to transform you back to your proper physical age. However, whatever Wiseman or Death Phantom if that was its real name did to force you to become a chaos mage is messing with my healing spells. This isn't an ideal situation, but it is imperative that you use the disguise pen whenever and wherever someone can see you. The public knows about Black Lady's existence and it will help them move on with their lives if they see that you are back to your old self."

Usa nodded her head and said, "I understand mother. It's just that I might only be ten years old chronologically, but my mind it that of a teenager. Do you realize just how hard it is for me to act like the precocious brat that I was before this whole mess started?"

This caused Neo-Queen Serenity to chuckle and the neo-queen then said, "Oh I think it isn't nearly as hard as you seem to think it is daughter." Neo-Queen Serenity's face then became more serious as she said, "Now then. Since your body is that of a young woman, I believe its time that you and I had a little chat." As Neo-Queen Serenity proceeded to give Usa 'The Talk' the princess of Crystal Tokyo wished that she could find a hole to hide in.

* * *

Once Setsuna had insured that her Sailor Scouts were back were they belonged in the 20th century she turned around to face her 30th century double. Setsuna then turned to Sailor Pluto and said, "This changes a lot of things."

Sailor Pluto nodded her head and said, "That it does younger me. I still haven't been able to figure out how the Black Moon Clan was able to travel into the past. The only known method of traveling into the past is via the Time Gates. But as we know, the Black Moon Clan never used the Time Gates at all to travel into the past."

Setsuna then replied, "Could the Black Moon Clan have constructed set of Time Gates?"

Almost immediately Sailor Pluto countered, "That would be impossible. First off constructing the Time Gates would require two masters of Order Magic and two masters of Chaos Magic to cast the spell used to create the Time Gates. In my time the only place where high level order mages can be found is on Earth and the only place where high level chaos mages can be found is on Nemesis. Also, according to the records we were able to recover from the Silver Millennium's temporal research center on Mercury there can only be one set of Time Gates per star system."

Then Setsuna shook her head and said, "Regardless of what the Silver Millennium's research states should or should not be possible. The fact of the matter is that the Black Moon Clan was able to travel into the past causing my timeline to branch off from your timeline. What makes this so disconcerting is the fact that instead of 'going our separate ways' our two timelines have remained linked."

Sailor Pluto nodded her head as well before sighing. "This," the 30th century analogue said, "Has never happened before in the history of the Time Gates. Somehow our two timelines have been permanently synchronized with each other so that for every second that passes here in the 30th century the same amount of time passes in the 20th century. What makes me even more worried is the fact that we have no idea what effects this synchronization will have on the timelines should a catastrophe happen in one timeline. Will the catastrophe be isolated to just that timeline or will the other timeline be affected as well?"

Both time guardians fell silent as they thought about that possibility. Neither of them had any information on what having their timelines linked together truly meant as such a thing had been declared an impossibility by the temporal researchers of the Silver Millennium. Finally Setsuna started to speak again. "Let's play it safe for now. Our timelines might have diverged, but many of the major events that happening in your 20th century should still occur in my time in a similar manner. At least, they should for the next couple of years until the butterfly effect fully kicks in."

Sailor Pluto's eyes lit up and she said, "I see where you're going with this. With me advising you, you can steer the Scouts away from any bond headed mistakes that could cause a major disaster in your time. That way we can cut the risk of finding out what a major disaster will do to the two timelines by half. In the meantime, I can get the best scientists that I can from Crystal Tokyo and possibly from Nemesis if I'm lucky to research what the effects that the timeline linkage will have."

"However, I think that we should do more then just having me provide you with information. Perhaps we should have someone from Crystal Tokyo travel to your time to help out the Sailor Scouts when your new adversaries arrive. It wouldn't hurt to provide a little extra insurance until we fully understand the situation. Since the Scouts in your time are already familiar with Small Lady she could be sent. If Neo-Queen Serenity approves of this idea we could say that she's being sent to the past to further train in her abilities as a Scout."

* * *

For the first few days of the NWC's long trek back to Nerima Ranma was extremely quiet all day long. Everyone pretty much assumed that Ranma was sulking over the loss of his chi and unanimously decided to let him sulk. What nobody in the group knew was that Ranma had been spending those hours hiking practicing his calming techniques and learning to draw on his mana supply. During the nights when his body was asleep Ranma would continue his lessons with Sapphire.

According to Sapphire one of the tricks to learning to do magic was to have a focus to help direct the person's magic. Sapphire also said that the eclipse sigil on Ranma's forehead could be used as a focus. Thus everyone in the NWC started to wonder what Ranma was doing one morning outside of Xi'an when he picked up a rock, pressed two fingers on his sigil, and concentrated. Everyone watched in shock as a small purplish-black light suddenly enveloped the rock in Ranma's hand.

When the light disappeared the rock was gone as well. In its place was a small bird-like robotic object that seemed to be made of metal. Oh the proportions on the thing were horribly messed up and uneven, but it was obviously supposed to mimic a bird. The robot bird wobbly hopped out of Ranma's hand, tried to flutter its wings to fly, and then smashed into the ground. Everyone then watched as the strange robot's body turned to dust and blew away.

Akane was the first person to speak after seeing that pitiful performance. "Uh Ranma, what was that thing?" In the back of her mind she was thinking that just when she thought she had seen it all, something even weirder had to come along.

Ranma said in a slightly defensive tone, "That thing was my first attempt at making a droid." Seeing the blank looks on everyone's faces Ranma sighed and said, "Look, Saphir implanted this echo of himself into my head that's been tutoring me on how to use my magic in my dreams. For the past couple of days I've been doing several mental exercises so that I can use my magic safely. Since droids, at least the type I was trying to make, are relatively simple I'm suppose to make them to start off learning how to actually use my magic."

Mousse adjusted his glasses and said, "Oh is that it. We all thought you were just throwing yourself a pity party." This sarcastic comment immediately earned the duck boy a bonbori upside the head courtesy of Shampoo. Akane, Ryoga, and Genma quickly pulled out scorecards to rate Shampoo on her moron bashing. Shampoo was a little upset that Akane only gave her a 6, but the Amazon champion didn't contest the decision since Akane was a professional in the sport.

The gang quickly packed up their camp after that and continued to long walk back to Japan. Before Ranma finished packing he collected two medium size bags of pebbles and placed them on his backpack within easy reach. Anyone watching the group would have seen Ranma constantly grabbing rocks out of his bags and transforming them into strange misshapen robotic birds. By the time lunch rolled around Ranma had emptied both bags and had to spend part of the break scrounging up rocks to continue his training.

Ranma continued to make his little droid 'birds' after lunch like he did during the morning. Only this time, Ranma seemed to figure out what he had been doing wrong with his earlier attempts. When it came time to stop for supper Ranma proudly showed off the droid that he had finished making. Akane and Shampoo were intrigued by how life-like the tiny droid acted. Ryoga and Mousse didn't say anything, but they were both impressed to see such a cool looking magical robot.

However, Genma was not impressed at the little droid at all. In a very condescending tone his said, "Oh the shame of it all, my son has become a magical toy maker. What did I do to deserve this?" Surprising it was the little droid that rebuked Genma for his poor behavior. The little droid flew into the air and then it fired a bolt of lighting from its single camera lens like eye. It then flew onto Ranma's shoulder and appeared to prune its metal feathers.

Ryoga turned to Mousse and said, "Memo to us, don't insult the mechanical Tweety Bird." Mousse immediately nodded his head as if Ryoga had said something profound while the girls rolled their eyes at the duo's antics. Ranma meanwhile was just shaking his head at his friends' antics and grateful that he now had the ability to defend himself once again. Sure the Tweety Droid wasn't as great as his martial arts had been or the high level spells he would eventually be able to do, but it was good enough for now.

* * *

Kasumi was just getting ready to start cooking dinner and she let out a sigh. Ever since Plum had arrived almost seven weeks ago things had been too quite in Nerima. On the one hand it was nice to not have to repair the dojo do to any damage that might occur because of a crazy adventure. On the other hand, life was really dull without the constant craziness spicing things up.

Suddenly Kasumi heard the front door open and her heart leapt. She immediately turned to face the door and prayed to see Akane and the Saotome men walk in. After all, father and Nabiki were both home and Aunty Nodoka wasn't planning on visiting till Sunday. Grandfather Happosai was currently in America visiting an old friend of his, a Mr. Hugh Hefner if her memory was correct, and wouldn't be back till the end of the month. All of Ranma and Akane's friends had already visited today to see if the duo had finally returned home yet.

Just like Kasumi had hoped, Akane came walking though the door with Ranma and Uncle Saotome trailing behind her. Akane immediately spotted Kasumi and ran over to hug her big sister. Kasumi gratefully returned the hug and said, "It's good to have you home again Akane." The eldest Tendo sister then turned to the Saotome men and said, "It's also good to have you two back as well Ranma, Uncle Genma. Life is just too quiet and boring without you two here." Soun and Nabiki then walked into the room and everyone exchanged pleasantries.

The conversation immediately changed when Kasumi asked where Ranma had found such a cute robotic toy. Nabiki and Soun quickly noticed the small robotic looking bird perched on Ranma's shoulder. Ranma immediately said, "Ah its name is Tweety and I didn't find it. I created it."

Nabiki immediately snorted and said, "Please Saotome, you expect us to believe that? You barely manage to hold a B average in class and that's when you apply yourself to your schoolwork. That thing looks more advanced then anything that the people in Tokyo University can create. In fact," Yen signs suddenly appeared in her eyes, "I bet they would pay a lot of money study that thing."

Before anyone could warn the mercenary girl Tweety's eye glowed and a bolt of lighting launched out. Nabiki then learned what it felt like to be tasered. Genma immediately said, "Now that, she had coming to her." Akane nodded her head in agreement with 'Uncle' Genma. One thing that everyone had quickly learned about Tweety was to not get on its bad side. Ranma's first successful droid was more then willing to use is static eye attack whenever it or Ranma was threatened.

Knowing that things could quickly get out of hand Ranma immediately said, "Sorry about that Nabiki. Tweety is very sensitive and it doesn't like people talking badly about it. It zapped Pops several dozen times on the way here. And yes Nabiki, I did create Tweety." Ranma noticed a plastic knife that was on the floor and stretched his hand over it. He then closed his eyes and a bolt of black lighting formed in his downward pointing palm and struck the knife. Everyone who hadn't witnessed Ranma using his magic before became bug-eyed as that knife suddenly transformed into a medium sized robotic dog.

Ranma kneeled down and scratched the dog droid behind its ear. He then patted the droid on the head and told to go cause a ruckus at the Kuno Mansion. Since those two insane idiots were going to be causing problems for him in the next few days, Kuno certainly would tomorrow at school Ranma figured he'd get in a preemptive retaliatory strike. With robo-pooch on its way Ranma looked up and the surprised looks on the Tendos' faces.

Kasumi gave a cheerful smile and said, "What an interesting trick Ranma. Did you learn it while you were in China?"

Ranma's face became somber and he said, "Yeah Kasumi. It's a trick I learned in China." He then shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm going to go put my stuff in my room and call Mom. It's been almost two months since I talked to her and I think she should know that we're here safe and sound." Without saying anything further Ranma walked out of the room.

Soun was going to grab Ranma's shoulder and keep the young man down in the kitchen with his fiancée. However, Soun quickly changed his mind and figured that the two must have grown a lot closer being that long trip together. Tweety rotating its head 180 degrees and charging up its' eye had nothing to do with Soun's change of mind. Really, it didn't. Soun then turned to Akane and said, "So daughter, did you enjoy your training trip with your fiancé?"

Akane got an annoyed tick on her forehead and then she said in a very sweet tone, "Daddy, if you remember Ranma and I didn't go on a training trip. I WAS KIDNAPPED!" She then grabbed her father by his shirt and pulled him to his knees. Then the berating really began for Soun Tendo Akane really let him have it. "Did you suddenly develop memory problems while we were gone Daddy? Well let me refresh your memory. Since I was kidnapped I have been nearly drowned, thrown into a prison by a bunch of bird people, and nearly died because I was magically dehydrated!"

By this point Soun's micro backbone had enough abuse and suddenly left for a vacation in Tahiti. Without his backbone Soun's survival instincts took over. Unfortunately for Soun, the first reaction his instincts told him to do was to grove and to beg The Master for forgiveness. Naturally Akane's temper reached thermonuclear proportions at being called Happosai and for the first time ever there was a Soun shaped hole in the Tendo roof.

* * *

"-And that's how things happened at Jusenkyo Mom. I hope you're not upset at me giving up my chi abilities, but it was the only way at the time that I could see to save Akane's life." Ranma had spent the half hour going over everything that had occurred and he had clearly spelt out what he had lost and why. Since his mother was going to find out eventually Ranma figured he'd tell her himself instead of just letting her hear a garbled and mostly untrue account of what had happened from someone else. That was one lesson from the Ranko Tendo situation that Ranma had learned very well.

Nodoka had listened in silence allowing Ranma to tell his tale and didn't know what to say. She was horrified that Ranma had lost his chi abilities since she knew how much time and effort her son had put in to gain those abilities. What hurt the most to Nodoka about the lost of Ranma's chi abilities was the fact that it made the 10 year training trip pointless. It frustrated her that all those lonely nights she had spent waiting for Ranma and Genma to come home were for nothing.

However, Nodoka was deeply touched that Ranma had been willing to give up his abilities to save Akane's life. It showed more then anything that Ranma was a man among men beyond any doubt. One didn't find men willing to make that kind of sacrifice every day now. Nodoka knew that Ranma must be getting nervous because of her silence so she said, "I'm proud of you son. Your actions and your sacrifice show that you are one the best men that the Saotome Clan has ever had the honor of calling a member. Goodnight son, I'm sure that you will eventually become as proficient in the magical arts as you were in the martial arts. Don't forget you continue to practice your martial arts as well. It would be a shame if you lost your skill in that art and it may just come in handy one day in the future."

After Nodoka accepted Ranma's goodnight she hung up the phone and sighed. She was proud of Ranma and what he had done, but there was one thing about his story that bothered her. According to Ranma it had been a mage named Saphir who unlocked his magic. Nodoka could add two and two together so she knew that the Saphir who had contacted Ranma had to be the same Saphir who she had encountered over 16 years ago.

Immediately after Saphir's visit almost 17 years ago Nodoka had believe that she had dreamed the whole incident up. After all, time travel couldn't possibly be real. It had only been after Nodoka had found out that she was pregnant and she compared the conception date to her fertility journal that she realized it wasn't just a fantasy. Not only had the day the doctor gave her been when she was supposed to be infertile, but Genma had been out of town for that week.

Once Nodoka had that revelation she always feared that she might one day loose Ranma. The fact that Ranma's real father had apparently been watching over him all this time made Nodoka even more nervous. Saphir had said that he needed to protect Ranma from a war that was occurring in the future. What if when that war ended Saphir whisked Ranma back with him into the future? Needless to say Nodoka did not rest easy that night.

* * *

Author's notes: to clear up the names a bit, Chibiusa is Chibiusa whenever she is in her child form. Usa is Chibiusa's name whenever she is in her teenager form. Whenever I have the same character form two different time period talking together the version from the earlier time period will be referred to by his or her given name and the future version will be referred to by their title.


	4. Chapter 4

Ranma and Akane were calmly walking to school and they had just reached the school's courtyard when the heard approach of the one person neither of them wanted to deal with at the moment. Actually, they didn't want to deal with Kuno period. Unfortunately the Blue Buffon was walking towards them with his bokken in hand spouting his usual drivel. "Ah, my fierce tigress returns. Come Akane, let us embrace!" Naturally Akane pounded the loon before he could get his hands on her. The duo then walked over Kuno and Akane deliberately pressed as hard as she could on the back of Kuno's head.

Kuno was up again before Ranma and Akane could make it inside the school. He then cried out, "Curse you Saotome." Ranma turned around and watched as Kuno repositioned his bokken into an aggressive ready stance. The lunatic swordsman then cried out, "How dare you darken these halls of learning with your foul presence Saotome. Unhand the fierce tigress and the pigtail girl at once or face my wrath." Naturally Kuno didn't give Ranma a chance to answer before he charged at the mage.

At first Ranma got into a fighting stance and prepared to fight Kuno. Tweety was packed inside Ranma's backpack so Ranma didn't have to worry about his friend drawing too much attention for now. Once his abilities were revealed Ranma planed to let his metal friend out in the open, but until then Tweety was going to be hidden. Ranma's opening move was swerve out of Kuno's way and then he delivered a kick squarely in the upperclassman's back. Since Ranma's kick didn't have any chi in it Kuno was stunned but not out cold. Suddenly Akane hollered out, "Ranma we have five minutes before the bell rings."

That announcement immediately made Ranma become a lot more serious then he had been. While Ranma wanted to show that he could beat Kuno without his chi, he wasn't about to be stupid about it. There was no way that Ranma could beat Kuno and get over to his classroom before the bell rang within five minutes. Since the pigtailed mage did not want to find out what Hinako's chi draining attack would do with his mana he decided to withdrawn from the match.

Of course, there was no chance that Kuno would just let Ranma walk away from the match and he knew it. A discarded soda can caught Ranma's eye and gave him an idea of how to escape. Ranma quickly raised his hand towards the can and sent a bolt of black lighting at it. Everyone in the school watched as the aluminum can transformed into a four foot tall fat robotic monkey with a bokken in its hands. Ranma then turned to walk into the school and he called out to Akane, "Hey Akane, How do you think the buffoon will do against the baboon?"

Seeing Ranma transform the can into the droid seemed to give Kuno new strength and screamed out. "So the foul sorcerer summons foul demons from Hell? In the name of the Heavens I Tatewaki Kuno, age 17, shall stop you." Kuno then charged at Ranma intent on slashing Ranma's head off. Fortunately for Ranma the baboon droid blocked Kuno's strike almost 10 meters away from Ranma. Since the droid had everything in hand Ranma calmly walked up the stairs and headed to class. Of course, Kuno was so stubborn about defeating the 'foul demon' that he spent the entire school day fighting with the droid.

* * *

In the Neko Hanten Cologne was sitting in a chair with Mousse and Shampoo standing in front of her. For the past two hours the Elder had been listening to her two charges' story about what had happened ever since Shampoo had been mind controlled and Mousse had set off with the guys for China. If Cologne didn't know that her charges knew to be completely honest with her and the fact that it was Ranma, she would have thought that the two were trying to pull her leg. Even in Nerima legendary Phoenix Kings, sleeping magical powers, and a cursed Spring of Almost Drowned Akane Tendo all together in one adventure was a bit much to swallow.

Ease of digestion aside, Cologne was now faced with a very difficult choice. In the eyes of the Chinese Amazons Ranma was a cripple. Sure Cologne hadn't checked the boy personally yet, but she knew that there was no way that Shampoo would ever lie about Ranma permanently losing his chi abilities. Mousse sure, he'd lie in a heartbeat if he thought it helped him out in winning Shampoo. However Cologne knew that Shampoo knew all the laws and thus would never joke about something this serious.

Since Ranma was a cripple, Cologne needed to decide whether or not Shampoo's marriage should be annulled or not. Personally Cologne was finding this task to be the hardest decision she ever made. Ranma had been one of the best martial artists that Cologne had ever had the pleasure of teaching or knowing in her 300 years. The boy had picked up on techniques faster anyone and his ability at on the spot revisions of ancient techniques was simply mind blowing. Even the chance of a Genma like throwback popping up now and then, the younger Saotome's bloodline was an extremely hot commodity.

If it wasn't for Ranma suddenly gaining magic Cologne would have just told Shampoo to continue to go after the boy. However, Ranma did possess magic and that made Cologne very leery about what she should do. On the one hand Ranma's magical abilities might be an extremely recessive trait that would only rarely pop up among his descendents provided that the right conditions were met. On the other hand, the boy could give rise to a line of sorcerers and that made Cologne very nervous.

Magic users were an extremely touchy subject among the Chinese Amazons and for good reasons. The last sorcerer to visit the Jusenkyo Valley came almost 200 years ago so Shampoo and Mousse didn't know the lore regarding those types of people. Sorcerers were a lot like dragons in the Chinese Amazons' book. They were either wise people who brought great blessings to their allies or they were horrible people who brought terrible curses to their enemies. Over 3000 years the Amazonian nation had encountered enough of both kinds of magic users to adopt a healthy respect for anyone who had their own magic.

One time, long before Cologne had been born, there had been a small clan of magic users within the Amazons. Thanks to that clan the Amazons had near total control over the valley and the surrounding lands. However, one member of that clan went off the deep end and by the time that woman had been put down the entire clan and half the Amazonian people were dead. Could she really risk something like that happening again? Even at the cost of her beloved great-granddaughter's happiness?

Finally Cologne made her decision. With heavy heart Cologne said, "Shampoo. After careful consideration of the facts I am forced to rule as an Elder of the Amazon Nation that your marriage to Ranma Saotome is annulled due to the crippling of Ranma Saotome. You are now free of the Kiss of Marriage and shall no longer have to dread taking a worthless male into your bed." Even as Cologne said the ritual words to make Shampoo's annulment official she could barely keep from throwing up in disgust at what she was saying. Saying that Ranma was a worthless male was like saying that the Sun was cold.

Naturally Shampoo ran up to her room crying her heart out when she heard Cologne announce that her marriage was annulled. Mousse was about yell out in happiness and chase after Shampoo when Cologne jumped onto his back and pulled on his hair. She then brought a knife to Mousse's neck and said, "If you bother Shampoo now I will slit your throat. Now is not the time for your shenanigans. Do you understand me or will there be a roast duck special on the menu latter today?"

Mousse nervously said, "I-I understand Elder. I won't bother Shampoo or talk about her annulment for now." Cologne didn't move for a minute as if she was considering whether or not Mousse had said everything that he should. Then much to Mousse's relief Cologne moved the knife away from his throat. After she put the knife back wherever she had gotten it from the old martial arts mistress flipped off of Mousse's back and calmly landed in her seat.

Cologne then said as Mousse turned to face her, "Let's get one thing strait Mr. Part-time. I annulled Shampoo's marriage for one reason and only one reason. The other Elders will not allow the possibility of a magical clan being established back in the village. Given our people's history with sorcerers I can understand their concerns. Magic users are like dragons: make them your ally if their friendly and hide from their notice if their not, but never bring one back home. An Amazonian warrior is expected to bring her husband back to the village if he is her husband by combat."

"By annulling Shampoo's marriage by combat I am preventing a possible civil war from breaking out among our people. Young Ranma is already something of a legend among the younger warriors of the tribe thanks to tales of his adventures trickling back to China. His arrival in the village as Shampoo's husband would spark tensions between the older and younger generations that could erupt into a full scale war. As much as I love Shampoo and would love to see her marry the man of her dreams, I cannot do so at the cost of our people."

Then Cologne gave a small crackle and she said, "And don't think for a moment that we're just going to pack up and head back to the village. Shampoo's quest for her husband may have ended, but we've still got a lot of work to do. For now we will stay in Nerima and try to win Ranma as an ally of the tribe. Having such a powerful ally as Ranma will become is something that the Amazons cannot allow to slip through their grasp."

* * *

Chibiusa was walking down one of the many streets of Juuban with a smile on her face and Luna-P resting on her head. She had just handed her mother's letter to the Scouts living in this timeline and so far things had gone pretty well for her. Okay, it had been extremely embarrassing for Chibiusa to have her debut battle be such a flop. But that wasn't her fault! If it wasn't for the stupid disguise pen messing up her magic she would have blasted that daemon to moon dust. Sailor Chibi Moon was a complete joke compared to Sailor Neo Moon and Chibiusa knew it.

Why did her mother insist that she use the disguise pen in this timeline as well? Since none of the Scouts in this timeline were aware that the timelines were synchronized except for Sailor Pluto she could have claimed to come from a few years further in the future then the Scouts had visited. Chibiusa had even though of a proper cover story that could be used to explain her presence. Unfortunately her mother had nixed that plan in the bud and Chibiusa knew better then to try and go around her mother's back on this issue.

Of course, that didn't mean that Chibiusa was happy with her mother's decision. In fact she was down right furious about having to be a little girl 24/7 while she was in the past. She couldn't even return to her proper form at night like she could in the palace when she was alone in her room. And it wasn't like she could just sneak away and walk the streets by herself as Usa. Not only would her mother ground her for life, but there was the risk that one of the Scouts in this time could accidentally cross her path. That would lead to questions and headaches that Chibiusa knew she couldn't handle.

Chibiusa was brought out of her little pity party when she felt Luna-P vibrate on her head. Knowing that Luna-P was programmed to do that only when there was something important that she needed to be made aware of, Chibiusa looked around for a secluded spot so she could find out what was going on. She soon spotted and ducked into a little alley in front of her and hid behind a dumpster. The smell might be revolting, but Chibiusa knew it would provide more cover for her from anyone looking from the street. Once Chibiusa was certain that everything was clear she said, "Princess Serenity here. Confirmation code is 'Why isn't there any Chocolate Chip ice cream?'"

Luna-P accepted the code and then became a clear sphere showing Sailor Pluto. The aforementioned Scout bowed her head and said, "Good day Small Lady." Sailor Pluto completely ignored Chibiusa's death glare on hearing that name and continued to talk about why she was calling. "On the talisman front things are going right on schedule. My 20th century counterpart has already contacted Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune to inform them about the location of the talismans. Currently Sailor Mars is searching the inventories of the Crystal Tokyo museums trying to find the sole remaining heart crystal snatching gun that was use in the exhibit on the Scout's past enemies. As soon as that thing's found it will be shipped to the 20th century so that the Neptune Mirror and the Space Sword can be recovered."

While this was good news, Chibiusa knew that this couldn't the only reason why Sailor Pluto had called her. The vibrations that Luna-P had given off were in a specific easy to remember pattern that had been selected for when there was a message that only she should receive. Otherwise, Chibiusa was supposed to gather the other Scouts so that they could here the message as well. In a worried tone Chibiusa said, "Alright Sailor Pluto. What's come up?"

Sailor Pluto then sighed and said, "Everything that I'm about to say is not to be repeated to ANY of the other Scouts. Just after you left for the 20th century we received a message from the Nemesian Senate. Apparently there is a member of the Nemesian royal family still alive thanks to the fact that this person's father Saphir hid him away. The problem is that Saphir hid this heir by sending him into the past to the 20th century. All that the Nemesian Senate has told us is that this hidden heir is between 10-20 years old and lives in Tokyo. Even they don't have any more concrete information then that."

"Small Lady, it is imperative that this heir is found. The Nemesian Senate and the people of Nemesis are fiercely loyal to their royal house. Until the heir is found the Nemesian Senate is only willing to accept a cease-fire with Crystal Tokyo. If it wasn't for Prince Demand dying to protect you and Usagi then the Nemesian Senate wouldn't have even considered a cease-fire. In fact the only reason why they contacted us at all over this matter is because their time machine is damaged beyond repair."

"This matter must be handled extremely delicately Small Lady. Apparently there is a monitor on Nemesis that is tied to the heir's health. It the heir is attacked by a Scout then the Nemesian Senate promises they will break off all diplomatic contact with us and the war will resume. Crystal Tokyo cannot handle another war at all. Our infrastructure is too badly damaged and we were lucky to reach a cease-fire at all. If another war breaks out we will be destroyed, especially considering that the Nemesian Senate promises to use orbital mass drivers this time."

Chibiusa's face became ashen white when she heard that the Nemesian Senate promised to use mass drivers if war was resumed. Crystal Tokyo was a utopia in many respects and sadly one of those areas that it was utopia, in some people's books, was the fact the military pretty much didn't exist. Sure there were some peacekeeping troops stationed throughout Earth to take care of some minor demons that popped up from time to time. However, the Crystal Self Defense Force had less troops then the Japanese Self Defense Force and the CSDF was spread out over the entire world.

Nemesis might only have less then 1 percent of the population that the Earth had, but their military capacity was far superior to Earth's. Considering that the harsh environment that Nemesis had weeded out all of the weaker people during the colonization process this wasn't too surprising. While the main force of the Nemesis army was magical like the CSDF, Nemesis also had access to 'hard' military tech that had been developed and theorized by Western countries before the Great Freeze. Military tech that no one in Crystal Tokyo wanted tested out on them. The Sailor Scouts really didn't think they could power a shield strong enough to withstand a large rock being dropped from orbit at hyper-mach speeds. Even Neo-Queen Serenity was leery about her chances of stopping something like that.

Finally Chibiusa regained the ability to speak and she said, "Don't worry Sailor Pluto. I'll find this heir. Don't know exactly how I'll do that yet, but trust me I'll find him. If any of the Scouts cause any problems or endanger this heir's life I'll sell them to a shikima." Sailor Pluto couldn't tell if Chibiusa was joking or not about that last bit and she really didn't want to find out. After wishing Chibiusa good luck and promising to try and find something that could help the search Sailor Pluto ended the transmission.

* * *

Ranma was sitting on the roof of the Tendo house shaking his head as he watched the fire trucks try to put out the flaming ruins of what was the Tendo dojo. He then turned his gaze back to Tweety who was standing on his knee and said, "I guess the break from the craziness is off little buddy. What on earth were Pops and Mr. Tendo thinking with this little surprise wedding of theirs? Just because Cologne annulled my 'marriage' to Shampoo those fools thought that they had a green light to get me married to Akane."

"Good that you were with me little buddy or I'd probably be in a hospital now. What was Pops thinking when he came up with the idea of knocking me out with a mallet to stuff me into a tuxedo? Doesn't he remember that I physically can't handle those kinds of hits? At least, I won't until I learn how to create my own magical armor." That was one thing that Ranma had been rather annoyed to find out from Sapphire a few days ago.

Unlike Chi which directly strengthened the bones and muscles, magic used a different method to increase a person's toughness and physical abilities. Regardless of which type of mage a person was, enhanced physical abilities were brought about through the use of spells that altered, or rather augmented, a person's natural abilities. While these types of spells could in theory be directly connected to a person's body, Sapphire had claimed that only a genius master level mage or an insane fool would attempt such a feat. Instead, Sapphire had informed Ranma, mages enchanted a person's clothes or an item that a person was wearing. This item's enchantment would in turn grant the person the physical abilities that were desired.

Personally, Ranma really didn't know what to think about using a magical outfit to regain his former physical abilities if he ever got around to making one. On the one hand Ranma wanted to be able to use is martial arts skills on the level that he used to be on. But on the other hand, it wouldn't really be his skill since the physical abilities wouldn't really be 'his'. Yet again, he couldn't just depend on his droids to protect him forever from the crazies that kept popping out of the woodwork wanting his head or his hand. Also, wasn't a magical power-up that he created by himself different then a power-up that he was just handed because he made it himself?

Deciding to shelve the philosophical debate for later, Ranma thought about why the dojo was currently in flames. After Tweedledum and Tweedlebum had been temporarily knocked out by Tweety Ranma had gone looking for some answers. To Ranma's surprise he had found Akane in a wedding dress apparently getting ready for what was supposed to be their wedding. After some awkward moments Ranma had eventually gotten Akane to mention the Nannichuan water that had been sent by the Jusenkyo guide to Ranma. Apparently Soun was holding the water until after Ranma and she were married.

Naturally Ranma had bolted from Akane's room as soon as he found out about the Nannichuan water. However, he hadn't left the room to try and get his hands on the Nannichuan water for himself. Ranma had left the room for the sole purpose of getting as far away from the Nannichuan water as he could. Unlike the other cursed guys, Ranma knew more about magic and he had been more observant about what went on during some of the crazy adventures that had happened.

The Nannichuan water was not how a Jusenkyo curse could be cured. Sure the instant Nannichuan water overrode a guy's Jusenkyo curse, but that was because it was a temporary curse. Real Nannichuan water, like any other cursed Jusenkyo water, would cause the two cursed forms to merge together and Ranma had no desire to be cursed to become a hermaphrodite. Sure it stunk becoming a girl at inopportune moment, but at least he could blend in when he was in his cursed form. Ranma figured that the Jusenkyo guide probably sent the Nannichuan water over so that whoever he married could swap genders as well and thus maintain a harmony in his family. Touching gesture really, but not one that Ranma wanted have to deal with.

Ranma had hidden on the roof of the house because he figure it was the most out of the way spot he could get to that wasn't so far away that the craziness was dragged along with him. The roof was perfect because no one expected Ranma to be there since he couldn't get to it without using a ladder anymore. Luckily Sapphire had introduced the basics of flying last night to Ranma. Now Ranma wasn't very good at flying yet, but he was good enough to levitate himself from his bedroom window to the roof. Good thing that he had fled up here when he did because every lunatic in the town seemed to have shown up to fight over the bride, groom, and the wedding presents.

Turning his attention back to Tweety Ranma said, "What do you think little buddy? The fire in the dojo appears to have been put out and all of the rowdier guests have gone back to wherever they came from. Do you think it's safe for me to show my face downstairs yet?" Tweety immediately shot Ranma a glare clearly showing that it thought Ranma showing his face right now was a Darwin Award wining idea. It may not be able to speak, but the little droid could defiantly communicate with its creator.

Ranma nodded his head and said as he started to pet Tweety's head, "You're right. That's got to be the dumbest idea that I've ever had. Everyone's probably going to blame me for this catastrophe even though I didn't participate in it at all. After all, I'm the keystone to any major misadventure that hits this ward. Pops and Mr. Tendo are probably going to yell at me for 'stringing those girls along' and not just marrying my proper fiancée that they picked out. Kasumi and Mom are going to be extremely disappointed in me and they'll probably bring family honor into their scolding. Nabiki will try to force me to sell the shirt off of my back to pay for these damages. Akane, oh boy, I think I'd rather take my chances with a nuclear reactor melting down that cross her path right now."

With those facts out in the open Ranma began to seriously consider his life as it was heading. After carefully examining his life and his relationships with everyone he knew, Ranma did not like the conclusion. His friends and family were slowly driving him to an early grave. Oh Ranma was sure that they didn't mean that and would be horrified by that revelation, but the fact remained that he was almost certainly going to end up dead before his 18th birthday. The chaos was just escalating too fast for him to adapt and one day soon he'd end up on a funeral pier.

What made the whole situation worse for Ranma was the fact that he couldn't see any way that Ranma Saotome could get out of this death trap. He had lost Shampoo by the merest of chances and had found the other binds that his associates were unintentionally creating tighten. If everyone involved in this mess could see what was going on then the problem might be solved. However, Ranma knew that while his friends and family were fairly good people they easily became too obsessed by what they wanted at times.

Several hours later the sun was beginning to set and Ranma was still on the roof thinking about things. He was looking at his situation from every angle that he could think of trying to find an out. Sadly things through, stupidity, inaction, misunderstanding, and dumb moves on many people's parts had created a practically incurable mess. There was only one way that Ranma could think of to escape this mess and Ranma decided to take it. He pulled out a small card from his magical stuff space and said, "I guess its time I cash in this get out of hell card."

* * *

Sanoske Kinomoto was sitting down for a late dinner when he heard someone knock on his door. The elderly man groaned in frustration about how this always happened when he tried to eat and headed over to the front door. When Sanoske opened the door and saw who was standing at his door he let out a surprised yelp, "Ranma! Why are you here?" Immediately after Sanoske said that he said, "Please come inside Ranma, we can discuss why you're here later. I was just about to have dinner so why don't you join me. After we eat we'll do business."

Not wanting to offend the elderly man, and being too hungry to really complain to a warm meal, Ranma quietly accepted Sanoske's offer. Half an hour and one good meal later the two got down to business. Sanoske started things off by giving Ranma a friendly smile and saying, "So then, let's get on to business. What do you need my help with Ranma?"

In a respectful tone Ranma said, "Well Mr. Kinomoto, I need some way to legally make 'Ranma Saotome' disappear. My life as Ranma Saotome is going to get me kill sooner or later. I'll probably die sooner since on one of my more recent misadventures I lost the ability to use Chi. I don't want to go ronin because there's still too much prejudice in some areas about that. Is there anyway that I could form a new clan and have myself and my female form transferred to that register?"

The elder man closed his eyes and said, "It is possible to create a new clan for you Ranma. However, knowing your associates in Nerima this won't happened without a huge fight. First we'd have to prove that your parents are unsuitable to be parents. That is easy since we just have to reveal the Neko-Ken. The major problem is that although you would win your case in the end the loss of face and the mud throwing that would be generated by your case would leave a lot of bad blood and a lot of questions about the justice system."

"Luckily, I have been researching your unprecedented case in my spare time and I've found a solution that should get you out of your situation without scandalizing the country. You may or may not know this Ranma, but your mother was the last of her clan. You have a few distant cousins in other clans, but your mother was the last person to carry her clan's name. This is important because your grandfather apparently didn't trust your father at all. In his will your maternal grandfather had everything he owned put into a trust until one of Nodoka's children, you, were to claim the estate."

"However, there's a cause in your grandfather's will that states that the only way you can inherit the estate is if you agree to abandon the Saotome name and take up the Tohno name. Your grandfather even provided a sub clause in his will to insure that you could be emancipated and transferred to the Tohno clan since you are sixteen years old. I've even done a preliminary check of the Tohno estate. While it's not a great inheritance its more then enough to last you through high school and college without worrying about money provided you don't go on wild spending sprees."

Ranma thought about what Sanoske had told him. After thinking about it and reminding himself that this was why he was here Ranma said, "Ranma Tohno isn't bad on the ears wouldn't you say Mr. Kinomoto?"

Sanoske smiled and said, "I'd say it seems like a reasonable name Ranma. Now, the guest bedroom is the second door on the right upstairs. Go up and get a good night's rest, tomorrow we'll head to the district courthouse and I'll sign those documents insuring that your transfer goes smoothly. I doubt that your associates will be willing to go against the transfer with my signature on the documents. Going against a district judge on a matter like this isn't that smart of a move."

Ranma bowed his head and said, "Thank you for your counsel and your kindness Mr. Kinomoto."

Sanoske quickly replied, "Think nothing of it Ranma. It is the least I can do for the man who saved my little granddaughter's life. Little Sakura is very precious to me and I am eternally thankful that you were there when you were to get her out of the way of that car."


	5. Chapter 5

Ranma put his key in the door lock and opened the door to his new home in Shinjuku. The Tohno estate wasn't a great inheritance, but it was a well managed estate that more then satisfied Ranma's needs. His new home was a two bedroom apartment with a kitchen/dinning room, a bathroom/laundry room combo, and a good size family room. As Ranma looked at the empty family room in front of him it really hit him that this was real. From now on he had to depend on himself in order to survive in the real world. The emptiness of his new home reflected the emptiness of his heart with all that he had given up these past few months.

However, Ranma also considered something else as he continued to look at the empty room. There was another way he could look at the empty room. Instead of associating the emptiness with all that he had given up he should try to think of it as representing the unblemished future that he had before him. This place was his home, not his mother's home or the Tendo's home. Here, Ranma thought as he stepped into the apartment, Ranma Saotome's story ended and Ranma Tohno's story began.

After Ranma was in his apartment he closed the door and casually placed his backpack on the floor. Ranma then walked over to the phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen and started dialing. Once Ranma heard the phone being picked up on the other end he said, "Hello Mr. Kinomoto. This is Ranma. I just wanted to let you know that I've found a place to live. That's right; apparently my grandfather was a part owner of an apartment complex and was friends with the complex's manager. I was able to move into one of the empty apartments and because of my partial ownership of the complex I don't have to pay for the room or for utilities. Thank you once again for helping me out and goodbye."

Once Ranma hung up the phone he folded his hands across his chest and looked around the room. From what Ranma remembered of layout he had been shown he was currently in the kitchen/dinning room which was the room that was connected to the outside. If he considered the long wall with the front door as the bottom of the floor plan then the door opposite to the front door led to the family room. To the right were the two bedrooms and the bathroom.

At moment Ranma was confronted by one of the basic questions that all homeowners have to ask themselves: which room is going to be what? Ranma quickly decided to just use the rooms as they had been labeled in the floor plan with one exception. Since Ranma was the only one living here he decided to convert the second bedroom between the first bedroom and the bathroom into a study room. The reason why he picked that bedroom to be the study room was do to the fact that it didn't have any windows. True the chances that anyone would be looking through the windows of an apartment on the tenth story were slim, but Ranma didn't want to take any chances.

Ranma grabbed his pack and headed over to his room. When Ranma got there he pulled out his sleeping bag and climbed inside. Today had been an extremely long day for Ranma do to dealing with all of the paperwork needed to get his life back on track. Filling out all of those forms and reading all of those documents had been aggravating, but well worth it in the end. Tomorrow Ranma planed to go shopping for some furniture and groceries. Hopefully by next week he would be enrolled in one of the local high schools.

* * *

Kasumi walked out to get the mail with a sad look in her eye. Things hadn't been easy at the Tendo house ever since the wedding disaster a few days ago. With the destruction of the dojo everyone had become a lot tenser and short with each other then they used to be. Ranma's disappearance hadn't helped the mood improve at all. In fact, it seemed to Kasumi that the boy's disappearance had made everyone else in the house even more short tempered then Kasumi had expected.

Practically everyone was blaming Ranma for at least part of the disaster that the wedding attempt had become. Kasumi honestly couldn't understand how anyone could say that Ranma had any blame in the fiasco. Ranma hadn't even been at the wedding and Akane, who was the last person to see the boy, claimed that he started running as soon as he found out about the Nannichuan water. Sadly father and Uncle Saotome seemed to see that as reason enough to blame everything on Ranma. According to their version of the story everything had gone wrong because Ranma hadn't ended his unseemly relationships with other girls and married Akane like he was supposed to.

As Kasumi was looking through the mail her eyes spotted the return address of one of the letters and it forced her to stop in her tracks. Kasumi quickly grabbed that particular envelope and noticed that it was addressed to the Tendo and the Saotome families. Although Kasumi knew that this letter should be read with everyone present her curiosity and fear got the better of her. Once Kasumi read the letter in the envelop she rushed inside to talk to everyone practically yelling for everyone.

Naturally the other Tendos and the Saotome couple were surprised to hear Kasumi yelling. All five of them quickly gathered in the family room and Akane was the first one to speak. "Okay Kasumi we're here. Why did you call us?"

Kasumi pulled out a letter and said, "This letter was delivered today and it was address to all of us. Let me read it to you:"

"Tendo Family and Saotome Family"

"This letter is to notify you that as of XX/20/199X one Ranma Saotome is no longer a member of the Saotome Clan. The aforesaid individual has, of his request, been moved to a different clan. Any attempts on your parts to try and arrange a marriage or any other agreement involving Ranma Saotome will be reported as fraud and those individuals involved will be punished to the maximum extent of the law."

"Ranma freely made this decision knowing the repercussions of his actions. He has also confided in me that he bares none of you any ill will. The reason why he proceeded with this course of action was that it was the only honorable way that he could live his life. I fully agree with him and I'm sure that we all wish him a happy and quiet life for the future."

"Signed,"

"Sanoske Kinomoto chief judge of the Kanto District Court"

Akane and Nodoka were completely shocked to hear that Ranma had left the Saotome family. Genma and Soun immediately started babbling about how Ranma was being disrespectful and acting in a dishonorable manner. Nabiki's reaction was to grab the letter out of Kasumi's hand and read it again. After Nabiki read it she turned to the two fathers who were planning on going do to the court house to put an end to this nonsense and said, "Stop right there. Both of you forget any and all plans you have of trying to get this overturned right now."

Both fathers immediately turned to face Nabiki and Soun responded, "But daughter, the schools must be joined. This is about an honorable pact that Genma and I made. Ranma must be found and brought back so that he can marry Akane as honor dictates."

Nabiki immediately scoffed and said, "Look we all know that this whole agreement isn't about honor so don't try to kid us. That honor thing may work on Ranma, but it doesn't work on me. You two want Ranma here and married to Akane so he can run the dojo for you guys. Personally I think that it's a reasonable plan considering your planning abilities. Ranma works while you guys get to go into early retirement."

Ignoring the shocked gasps from the other girls in the house Nabiki continued on. "However, what neither of you two is considering is that this letter comes from the district judge. I'm not talking a simple letter that a secretary at the district court office wrote. This is a handwritten note that is signed and sealed by the district judge himself. In case you're having trouble connecting the dots that means that the district judge of our prefecture is personally looking out for Ranma."

"With Mr. Kinomoto looking out for Ranma you two have zero chance of getting Ranma back with whatever plan you're cooking up and a high chance of ending up in jail. To get Mr. Kinomoto's ruling overturned you'd have to go to one of the high courts. Provided that you two even manage to get your case brought before the high court for judgment you'd have to defend yourself. It's likely that Ranma and/or Mr. Kinomoto have a lot of evidence to burry you under in court since Mr. Kinomoto said that he was sure we all wish Ranma a quiet life. Besides, by the time you two could pull this off Ranma will probably be of legal age and he wouldn't listen to you anyway."

After Nabiki finished explaining why Ranma was free from the fathers' control she immediately left the room. Out of all the people in the house Nabiki was probably the only one who was truly happy that Ranma was gone. Sure, she enjoyed watching the trouble that the jock could get into at times and the money she could scam off the pigtail boy's associates. But in the long run, Nabiki preferred to have Ranma as far away from herself as possible. As much as Nabiki valued her entertainment she valued her health more and as she could attest, staying around Ranma was not the wisest move that anyone could make regarding his or her health.

Once Nabiki left the room Soun and Genma went out to the local bar. They wanted Ranma back to unite the schools and run the dojo. However, they also wanted to avoid getting in trouble with the law. The only solution that their brains could think of to this conflict of interests was to get plastered.

That left Akane, Kasumi, and Nodoka remaining in the room. The trio looked at each other silently asking with their eyes for someone to tell them what to do. Each of them cared for Ranma and it was incredibly painful for them to consider that Ranma had decided to leave their lives. Silently the three of them walked towards each other and got in a big group hug. Ranma might be gone from their lives, but at least they knew that they weren't alone in missing him and that they could count on each other for comfort in the days ahead.

* * *

Ranma stood on top of his school that he had been going to for almost two weeks and carefully looked around the roof. After double checking that he was alone on the roof Ramna started thinking about his new life. Less then week after Ranma had moved to Shinjuku he had enrolled at the local high school. The people who had met Ranma Saotome would probably have been shocked that Ranma Tohno had started going to school without any prompting.

As far as Ranma was concerned his minor personality and major behavioral changes were the result of him growing up. When Ranma looked back on his battle with Saffron and the choice Saphir had offered him, he was now able to truly appreciate how important that event truly was. Ranma knew that in that moment he had chosen the kind of man he was becoming. If he had rejected Saphir's offer and somehow managed to win he would have continued living like he had been until something came along and killed him. On the other hand, had he rejected Saphir's offer and Akane had died then his life would have spiraled down the drain probably ending with him committing suicide.

By accepting Saphir's offer, Ranma had altered the course of his life. With the loss of his amazing martial arts abilities he had been forced to realize that there was more to life then the art. Sapphire's lecture and question teaching style along with his positive reinforcement had opened Ranma's mind to thinking more about problems. These two subtle shifts in Ranma's thinking along with his increased magical knowledge had set him up for his next critical life decision.

When Ranma reflected on his decision to leave the Tendo house and his family he was able to clearly see how significant it was. That was the moment where he had to choose between trying to live his immature life like he used to or to take what he had gained during the battle with Saffron and let it grow to its potential. How ironic really that it took a battle with phoenix for Ranma to gain a new life.

Ranma returned his mind to the present and said, "Alright enough of the reminiscing. I'll have more then enough time to do that when I get old and fat. Now then, let's see if my long distance teleportation works like it should." With a confident I-can't-possibly-lose grin on his face Ranma created a man-sized swirling black void in front of him. Ranma then walked into the void with it collapsing behind him.

* * *

Usagi screamed out as she tried to avoid one of the daemons' attacks, "This is not good!" Instead of the usual single daemon that the Scouts usually faced this time they had to deal with two daemons. What made this such a big problem was the fact that two daemons seemed to have been carefully designed to work together. One daemon was very fast and used quick attacks that didn't do much damage. The other daemon was very tough and it had very powerful attacks that took a while to charge.

If whoever was behind this attack and all of the previous attacks was trying to take out the Scouts by using new tactics, then Usagi could vouch that the plan was working. The Inners, along with Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Chibi Moon, were ill prepared to fight against this new tactic. According to Ami, Usagi was the only one who had an attack strong enough to get through the stronger daemon's armor unless the other Scouts were to use the Sailor Attack. However, the armored daemon couldn't be taken out because the speedy daemon was interrupting the Sailors' attacks and wearing them down.

At the moment Usagi was wishing that Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune would show up to help out. Even if they were very condescending towards everyone else Usagi would be glad to have their help in this fight. Usagi was trying desperately to think of a way to win this fight, but she couldn't stop having to run long enough to think of a plan. Then as Usagi tried to catch her breath she watched as Chibiusa tripped and fell onto the sidewalk. Usagi felt her heart jump into her throat as the speedy daemon raced towards Chibiusa with an insane grin on its face.

Suddenly from out of no where a red blur appeared and collided with the speedy daemon. Everyone watched in shock as that daemon screamed out in agony. Usagi looked and saw what looked like a large mechanical dog with a big gun on its back biting down on the daemon's entire hand. She was about to tell Chibiusa to get up when her future daughter jumped to her feet and ran away. The daemon tried to slash at the mechanical dog when the droid turned its gun towards the daemon and fired. Now the droid's attack didn't destroy the daemon, but it did leave some fairly nasty scars.

Right now the Scouts weren't such what they should make of the mechanical dog that had suddenly appeared to help them out. After all, help usually didn't appear in the form of a monster of the week. However, the question of what they should make of the dog was quickly taken out of the Scouts' hands by the other daemon. It used the time that the Scouts were too surprised to move to charge up its attack and then it launched the attack at the droid. Sadly for the droid its armor was unable to withstand the daemon's attack and it was quickly destroyed.

Fortunately for the Scouts, the armored daemon's attack had enough power left over to destroy the wounded speed daemon. Now the battle was back to what the Scouts were used to. Each Scout took turns blasting the remaining daemon to keep it on the defense while Usagi charged up her attack. The end result of this as always was the daemon being destroyed with a Moon Spiral Heart Attack.

Once the battle was over Usagi said, "Uh did any of you guys see where that dog came from?" This question set of a string of I don't knows from everyone and left them wondering where the timely assistance came from. During the Scouts questioning on the battlefield Chibiusa's eyes narrowed. There was only one person in this timeline in Tokyo besides the Death Busters that could possibly know how to create that creature. She finally had a lead on the missing prince of Nemesis.

* * *

While the Scouts were standing in the street trying to figure out what was going on Ranma was walking on the other side of the block. Ranma was a little down because his first attempt at long range teleportation had been a flop. The reason why the attempt was flop in Ranma's mind was because he went to the wrong place. He had been trying to teleport to his old high school's roof and instead he had teleported to a roof that gave him a view of a magical skirmish. As far as Ranma could see he must have messed up the part of the spell specifying the end point's coordinates.

At least some good seemed to have come out this mishap. From what Ranma could see those girls in the short skirts had been at the end of their rope facing off against those two chaos magic summons. Since Ranma didn't know what the fight was about he hadn't immediately jumped in on one side or the other. It was only when that pink haired girl looked like she was about to be seriously hurt that Ranma had decided to act. The droid that Ranma created had been given the simple order to stop that summons' attack, but to otherwise only react to attacks on itself.

As Ranma looked at the street signs to figure out where he was he thought about what he had learned from that battle. He still didn't really know who was fighting or what the two magical groups were fighting over. However, he did know that those girls were concerned about their teammates while whoever was behind the summons didn't worry about their underlings' health. That fact really burned Ranma up inside because he cared about the safety of each and every droid he created. Yes Ranma knew that his droids would be destroyed from time to time, but at least he tried to help them and he respected them. None of his droids would risk hurting one of their brethren like that one summon had done.

Deciding to put the whole situation out of his mind Ranma smiled when he saw a sign stating that he was in Juuban. Ranma walked over to one of street venders and said, "Excuse me sir. Do you know the directions to the nearest subway station? I'm a little lost and would be grateful for any assistance you could offer." At the moment Ranma did not want to try another long range teleportation spell to get home. Knowing his luck he might end up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Luckily for Ranma the vendor that he had asked was friendly and had given him the directions. Ranma thanked the vendor for the assistance and promptly headed off to the subway station. Once Ranma got to the station he quickly bought a ticket to Shinjuku and sat down to wait for his train. As Ranma waited for his train his mind returned to fight he had observed. Thanks to Ranma's training he knew that the girls had to be order mages. Their magical aura was exactly how Sapphire had described how an order mage's aura felt.

However, there was one exception that was bugging Ranma. That young pink haired girl's aura as impossible as it should be had touches of chaos magic in it. Ranma's curiosity at this strange phenomenon led Ranma to scanning that girl's aura again. What blew Ranma's mind was the fact that not only did that girl's aura have some of the characteristics of a chaos mage, but for a split second he thought he saw the image of an older version of the girl.

What did all of this mean? Was that girl under the effects of something like the age mushrooms? Or was something completely different happening here? Ranma didn't have a clue about what was going on and he was feeling a headache starting to form. Eventually Ranma decided to just ignore that whole situation for now and ask Sapphire about it tonight. Hopefully Sapphire could answer his questions. If not, well Ranma figured it really wasn't his business anyway. He didn't like people poking their noses in his business so why should he poke his nose into other people's business.

Soon enough the train pulled up and Ranma got on board. Ranma took a quick look around and after seeing that it was standing room only he grabbed one of the handrails. As Ranma silently traveled back to Shinjuku he made a promise to try and find out more about that group of magical girls. Even if Ranma didn't want to poke his nose in their business he figured that he'd eventually cross their path again. Any information that he could find about them would help him decided how to treat them.

* * *

About an hour after the daemon attack the Inners, Chibiusa, and Mamoru were sitting in the Hikawa Shrine trying to figure out what had happened in their last fight. Currently everyone was looking at Ami and waiting for her to finish analyzing the readings that the mercury computer took of the battle. Ami looked up at everyone and said, "Alright. I've completed my analysis of the robotic dog that helped Chibiusa out and I've discovered something interesting about it. That dog had almost the exact same properties as the droids that the Black Moon Clan used."

Usagi was the first to react to Ami's news and she screeched out, "What!" Then Usagi grabbed Ami and said, "How can that be Ami? That dog looked nothing like the minions that the Black Moon Clan used. Besides, all the members of the Black Moon Clan are dead. Remember Ami that Chibiusa and I were there when that scary Death Phantom was killed so the dog couldn't have been from the Black Moon Clan. Also, if it was from the Black Moon Clan why did it protect Chibiusa?"

In an effort to calm Usagi down Makoto said, "Usagi, Ami said that the dog was very similar to the monsters used by the Black Moon Clan. That doesn't mean that the dog was from the Black Moon Clan." Makoto then looked at Chibiusa and said, "Could the dog have been sent by one of the Black Moon Clan's ancestors living in this time?" Everyone else in the room caught on to what Makoto was suggesting and they turned to look at Chibiusa as well.

At the moment Chibiusa wished that something, anything, would get everyone to stop this particular line of reasoning since it might force her to reveal the fact that Saphir's son was living somewhere in this timeline. Knowing that she was short on time Chibiusa decided to give a little bit to keep the Scouts from finding out about the prince. "It can't be the ancestor of the Black Moon Clan. The individual who eventually founds the Black Moon Clan hasn't been born yet. His father, who is supposed to have been a great chiropractor, won't figure out how to talk to the Black Moon Clan's founder's mother without turning into a blubbering idiot every time he sees her for several more years."

Rei jump in at this point and said, "What if whoever made the dog droid isn't a member of the Black Moon Clan at all? It could be that whoever created that thing taught the Black Moon Clan how to use magic. After all the dog droid looked and acted very different then the Black Moon Clan's droids, but it also shares a lot of similarities to the Clan's droids."

Mamoru then continued Rei's line of thought by saying, "Rei does have a point. Crystal Tokyo is a thousand years in the future. It is possible that whoever created that droid provided the Black Moon Clan with the knowledge of how to create their droids. The only question I have if that is the case is what are we going to do about it?"

In surprisingly regal tone Usagi said, "We'll leave whoever created that droid alone. So far this person has done nothing wrong and has attempted to help us. Unless we fine real proof that whoever created the droid is misusing their powers we will not bother them. It would be a crime to attack someone just because of what they might do in the future." Usagi's tone and the look in her eye made it crystal clear that she would not tolerate anyone going against her decision.

As everyone was giving Usagi their promise to leave the mysterious helper alone Chibiusa smiled. The future princess was extremely pleased with how this meeting had gone so far. Not only did she manage to keep everyone else in the dark about the Nemesis prince, but she had also gotten a chance to see her mother in Usagi. Chibiusa knew that Usagi and Mamoru would, or a version of them had, become her parents in the 30th century. However, it was hard at times for Chibiusa to make that connection because of how differently Mamoru and Usagi acted when she compared them to King Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity.

* * *

In Ranma's dreamscape the pigtailed boy sat in a chair across from Sapphire and then he said, "Sapphire, something strange happened today. During my attempt at a long range teleport I ended up in Juuban. While I was there I spotted these girls who wore these strange fuku like uniforms and they seemed to have some magical abilities. Do you have any idea who those girls are?"

Sapphire picked up a cup of tea from nowhere and took a sip. Afterwards he looked at Ranma and said, "Yes I know who those girls are Ranma. Those girls are the Sailor Scouts. They're a group of reincarnated high level order mages from a magical civilization known as the Silver Millennium. According to Saphir's memories your magical skills are better then the Sailor Scouts. Now the Scouts might seem better then you right now with their stronger attacks, but their attacks are all preprogrammed attacks that are built into their uniforms. At this time the Sailor Scouts have almost no real magical training."

"As I have told you Ranma, Saphir was from an alternate future. In Saphir's timeline the Sailor Scouts became the rulers of the Earth. A war broke out some time after the Scouts became the rulers of Earth and that war ended with Saphir's ancestors having to leave Earth for the hidden tenth planet in the Solar System. Under Saphir's brother the people of Nemesis launched an attack on the past causing your timeline to split from his timeline."

"Now the reason why this is so important for you to know Ranma is because the Sailor Scouts of your timeline were dragged into the Nemesis/Crystal Tokyo War. That means that the Sailor Scouts will probably be hesitant to trust you since you use the same droids as the Black Moon Clan. I believe you can and I encourage you to try to establish a peaceful relationship with the Sailor Scouts. However, if you do try to start an association with the Sailor Scouts you must be cautious. Remember, they have little reason to trust you and several good reasons to believe that you're a threat to them."

"Still Ranma, I would like you to try and solve things peacefully with the Scouts. Saphir never believe that the Sailor Scouts of this era should have been brought into the Nemesis/Crystal Tokyo War. If fact, Saphir thought that the war could have been avoided if both Neo-Queen Serenity and Prince Demand had been willing to sit down and talk about the situation."

Ranma nodded his head and said, "Don't worry Sapphire. I'll try to not repeat the Black Moon Clan's mistakes in my dealings with the Sailor Scouts. With me living in a different ward I think that I can at least get a non-interference agreement with the Scouts. It's not like I want to butt into their lives."

Sapphire gave Ranma a little smile and said, "A wise decision Ranma. Now, let's start your lessons again. I believe a fresher on basic teleportation wormhole casting is in order." Ranma quietly listened as Sapphire gave the lecture again hoping to find out what he had done wrong last time.


	6. Chapter 6

Currently Ranma was at one of the local gyms working out in one of the indoor basketball courts. While martial arts weren't the center of Ranma's universe anymore he did like to keep in shape and to practice martial arts. Sure Ranma wasn't a member of the small group of super elite martial artists anymore, but he was still better then over 90 of the martial artists on the planet. Besides it was his mother's suggestion that he keep his skills up and Ranma wasn't about to go against his mother on this issue.

As Ranma finished a very complex kata he heard several people start to clap. Ranma looked around and saw about two dozen people standing in different areas of the court congratulating him for demonstrating such skill. All of this praise quickly caused Ranma to start blushing. Having people congratulate him for his level of skill was something that Ranma wasn't used to. Back in Nerima Ranma had shown off a higher level of skill then he had today and the people of Nerima hadn't even batted an eye. It made Ranma wonder what these people would think about his old battles in Nerima back before Saffron.

Ranma really should have remembered to be careful about wishes because he got what he asked for. Just as Ranma grabbed his towel to dry the sweat off of himself the left section of the rear wall exploded. Everyone on the basketball court, including Ranma immediately, fell to the floor to avoid the shrapnel. Almost everyone thought that a bomb had gone off, but Ranma immediately started to look around for Ryoga. This seemed like Ryoga's typical entrance stunt and Ranma didn't believe for a second that he had been able to completely wash his hands of the Nerima mess.

Just as Ranma had expected Ryoga was standing in the middle of the new hole in the gym wall with a blank look on his face. Ranma fully expected the lost boy to soon cry out, "Where on Earth am I?" However, before Ryoga could scream out his usual words one of the girls that were in the gym screamed out in terror. Ranma quickly pinpointed the girl who screamed and hurriedly followed her gaze to see what had shocked the airhead out of the stupor that Ryoga's entrance had cause.

When Ranma saw what had caused the girl to scream his heart leapt into his throat. One of the regulars at the gym was lying dead on the ground with a piece of metal shrapnel sticking out of the back of the man's skull. As Ranma stared at the man's body every encounter he ever had with Ryoga flashed through his mind. The lunch fights at the middle school, the first encounter in Nerima, that time when Ryoga first used the Shi Shi Hokodan, every single moment. Finally Ranma's mind came back to the present and Ranma had only one thought on his mind. For everyone's safety Ryoga needed to be taken down.

It wasn't that Ryoga was an evil person, but the boy was a danger to everyone around him. The problem was that Ranma couldn't ever remember an instant when Ryoga had paid attention to his surrounding during a fight. Back in Nerima there had been hundreds of cases where an innocent had nearly been severely injured because of a martial arts battle among the members of the NWC. While there were a few times when Ranma had nearly hurt an onlooker, those times were few and far between do to the effort he put in to not get others involved in his fights. Ryoga and Mousse had the most number of times where they almost hurt an innocent and unlike Mousse Ryoga didn't have horrible vision as an excuse. The lost boy just didn't seem able to keep track of his surroundings in a fight.

Back in Nerima when he had still been an immature child, Ranma hadn't really given much thought about Ryoga's inability to keep track of his surroundings. It had all been like a game to Ranma back then and he had childishly assumed that no one would be permanently hurt at the end of the day. Saffron had forced Ranma to realize just how dangerous the NWC's 'games' really were. Ranma could not pretend that his daily fights were just games ever since his hands were stained with Saffron's blood.

Now Ryoga's hands were stained with blood as well, but Ranma saw the fundamental difference between him and his old friend. Ranma's kill was because it was the only way that he had left to save Akane's life since Saffron would not allow Akane to get the water to save her life. Ryoga's kill was because the lost boy had decided to use the Bakusai Tenketsu to make a doorway and someone had been the way of the resulting shrapnel. It was pure and simple manslaughter without any mitigating circumstances or possible justification.

Ranma immediately stood up and roared out to Ryoga, "You murderer! Were you thinking at all when you used the Bakusai Tenketsu Ryoga? Thanks to your recklessness an innocent man is dead."

Ryoga was shocked to his core when he heard someone calling him a murderer. He wasn't a murderer; he had never killed anyone in his life and he rarely killed animals in the wild for food. When Ryoga heard the person who had accused him mention his name his recognized Ranma's voice. Ryoga had turned to face Ranma to deny his rival's claims when he saw Ranma's eyes. Instead of Ranma's normal friendly eyes that Ryoga was expecting, he was greeted by a hard piercing gaze that promised untold pain. Even though Ryoga knew that he could beat Ranma in a fight now that the pigtail boy couldn't use Chi, Ryoga was starting to fear for his life.

In a chilling tone that reminded Ryoga of the battle with Saffron Ranma said, "You've gone too far this time Ryoga. Thanks to your disregard for your surroundings Yasutora Yamaki is dead and there is no one but you Rygoa to blame for that. I can't let you just 'get lost' Ryoga, justice must be served. Since you can escape a high level prison just by using that technique of yours I'll have to insure that you can't use it ever again."

As soon as Ranma said that he closed his eyes and summoned a tiny portion of his mana. Do to how much power was needed for this spell and Ranma's still relatively poor control he had to concentrate on not getting swept away by the mana. A small dark blue ball of energy quickly formed in Ranma's right hand while the eclipse on Ranma's forehead started blinking like crazy. Ranma then opened his eyes and looked at Ryoga before he pointed his right hand at the boy. In a cold voice Ranma said, "Corrosive Shackle Shot!"

The sphere of mana shot out of Ranma's hand and hit Ryoga causing the lost boy to scream out in agony. Corrosive Shackle Shot was a rather nasty advance low-level spell that had been created on Nemesis to be used on dangerous criminals. It rendered a person's hands useless by fusing the fingers together while warping the bone structure of the hands. According to Sapphire the spell wasn't forbidden because it could be blocked by a basic defensive spell and the damage was easily reversible with a medium level healing spell.

Of course, Ryoga wasn't using a basic defensive spell so when the Corrosive Shackle Shot struck him it instantly fused his fingers and warped his hands. Do to the mangled state Ryoga's hands were in the boy would never be able to use his hands again unless someone used a healing spell to correct the damage. While Ryoga was staring at his useless hands Ranma was directing another member of the class to call the police so that Ryoga could be brought in for manslaughter.

* * *

Ranma was walking down the streets of Shinjuku with a depressed look on his face. Ever since Mr. Yamaki's death last week, Ranma had been confronted with several tough choices. Luckily none of those choices involved the government. No one in the police force wanted to touch a case involving high level martial artists and magic. Unlike the police in Nerima, the guys at the local police station didn't have the option of pretending that the disturbance never happened because of Mr. Yamaki's death. So once the police had arrived and found out what had happened, they proceeded to create a cover story.

Officially Ryoga had used a bomb to blow a whole in the wall of the gym which caused Mr. Yamaki's death. Ranma, at least according to the police's version of events, had used a small can of pepper spray to stun Ryoga until the police had arrived. The damage to Ryoga's hands was caused by Ryoga getting caught in the aforesaid bomb's explosion. Any weird lights that some people reported seeing were said to be the result of sparks from the damaged electrical wiring and adrenaline. Naturally the tabloids published what actually happened on the basketball court, but that just meant that most people believed the official version of events more firmly. Even the weirdoes that frequented the gym who had witnessed everything attested to the police's version of events.

No, the choices that were haunting Ranma were of a more personal nature and those choices involved his powers. Just why was he studying to use his magic so hard? Ranma couldn't claim it was for self-defense like he could in Nerima because the skills he had now were more then enough to protect him from most threats. He also couldn't claim that he was doing it just to control his magic. That could be done without studying higher level spells at all. At this point Ranma could use meditation to eventually insure that his magic never got the better of him. So why was he so driven to learn how to use his magic when there was the chance that he could abuse it like Ryoga had abused martial arts?

In the end Ranma found that there two reasons why he was so driven to learn to use magic. The first reason was rather childish in that Ranma wanted to learn to use magic because he had mentally transferred his drive to be the best martial artist to being the best magician. Luckily the second reason was a little nobler. Ranma had frequently used his martial arts and the physical skills he had developed from martial arts in the past to help people out. Usually Ranma forgot who he had helped out or how he had helped, but the joyful feeling that helping someone in need brought to him remained with him. Ranma wanted to be able to help people out again and magic was the way that he could help them out now that he was an 'ordinary' martial artist.

Ranma was snapped of his mental pity party by his curse activating. She rolled her eyes and continued to walk down the streets. One thing about living in a 'normal' ward like Shinjuku that Ranma loved was the fact that no one believed that she was under a curse. Everyone who saw Ranma's curse in action simply assumed that their eyes were playing tricks on them. It was so much easier the average person to believe that they hadn't seen Ranma change genders then to be confronted with the fact that magic existed. At least, it was better then being treated like a freak because of the curse.

* * *

Chibiusa was walking down the street staring intently at the small device in her hand. Anyone who saw her would simply assume that she was playing one of those new handheld games that had recently come out. However, the Moon Magitec console was not a handheld game console. It was a highly advance tracking system that could locate anything within a twenty mile radius as long as it had a sample or an energy pattern stored to know what to look for. And it could play any handheld videogame that would ever exist in the 20th century, Neo-Queen Serenity had been funding it's creation after all.

Right now Chibiusa was busy trying to use the Moon Magitec to locate the missing prince of Nemesis. Thanks to that tabloid article she had spotted yesterday in the supermarket Chibiusa knew that there was a magician living in Shinjuku. Given the fact that Shinjuku and Juuban were relatively close together and that warped hands sounded like a chaos spell, Chibiusa figured this was the place to look for the prince. The Moon Magitec supported Chibiusa's hypothesis because she had a lock on the prince using his magic's residual frequency that was left on his droid's dust.

There was a small smirk on Chibiusa's face as she looked at the Moon Magitec display screen. According to the readout the prince was just on the other side of the wall she was walking by. Chibiusa was so close to success that could taste it. However, when Chibiusa turned the corner and saw who was behind the wall she let out a loud "Huh?"

Instead of seeing a boy or a man like the princess had expected she saw a busty red head sitting on a bench by the wall. This didn't make any sense! Nemesis had a missing prince, not a missing princess. Even if the person described in that tabloid article wasn't the prince, the article had clearly stated that the magician had been a boy. The Moon Magitec shouldn't be pointing to that girl at all. Chibiusa looked down at the readout, then at the girl, and glanced back to the readout. According to the Moon Magitec, and Chibiusa and double-checked to make sure it was scanning for magic along the Black Moon Clan's usual energy frequency, the Nemesian prince was right in front of her where that girl was.

Just as Chibiusa was about to throw the Moon Magitec on the ground in frustration Ranma got up and walked towards Chibiusa. Ranma placed a hand on Chibiusa's shoulder and said, "Something wrong little girl?"

Naturally, Chibiusa jumped up in fright when she heard Ranma speak to her. As soon as Chibiusa landed back on her feet she glared at Ranma and said, "Don't do that! Do you realize how much you startled me?"

Ranma scratched the back of her head and said, "Sorry about startling you. It's just that you looked like something was really bothering you. Does it have something to do with your videogame?"

Chibiusa blinked her eyes for a second and then she realized that the girl in front of her must be referring to the Moon Magitec. At that point Chibiusa realized that she had dropped the Moon Magitec and quickly started looking around for it. The future princess let out a load groan when she found the Moon Magitec and saw that it was broken. Chibiusa turned to glare at Ranma and said, "Great, just great! Thanks to you startling me, my Moon Magitec is ruined." To emphasis her point Chibiusa picked up the future device and shoved its cracked screen into Ranma's face.

Ranma immediately hung her head when she saw the ruined Moon Magitec. She hadn't meant to ruin the girl's toy when she asked the girl if something was wrong. In an effort to try and make up for causing the device to be destroyed Ranma said, "Sorry about that little girl. I just wanted to see if you were alright. My name's Ranko Tohno and would you like to go get some ice cream? It's the least I can do to make up for causing your toy to be ruined."

Now Chibiusa was a very dedicated girl when it came to Scout business. Compared to the Inners it was almost impossible for something to distract Chibiusa from trying to follow her mission. However, Chibiusa had just had a major blow to her ego since she hadn't found the prince of Nemesis and the only tool she had available to help in her search had just been destroyed. This loss of self-esteem and equipment lead to Chibiusa accepting Ranma's offer of ice cream. Chibiusa looked up at Ranma and said, "Okay Ranko. By the way, my name's Chibiusa."

The two new acquaintances quickly found an ice cream parlor and Ranma expertly netted two very generous servings of ice cream for both of them. When Chibiusa watched Ranma scam the extra ice cream out of the poor counter boy she couldn't help but giggle. If Usagi, or any of the other Inners for that matter, could see how Ranko was working the counter boy then she would have begged Ranko for lessons. Once Ranma had both servings of ice cream in hand she quickly led Chibiusa to one of the corner booths so they could eat.

While Chibiusa and Ranma were eating their ice cream they naturally started talking. Both of them stuck to rather light subjects and carefully avoided saying anything that might indicate that they were anything other then normal girls. By the time Chibiusa and Ranma finished their ice cream they had become friends. This wasn't really surprising since both of them secretly wanted to have a friend. After another half hour of talking, Chibiusa left the ice cream parlor to head back home. In her hand was a small scrap of paper with Ranma's phone number in it.

* * *

Setsuna and Sailor Pluto were sitting in Setsuna's Charon Castle drinking some tea. Today was their weekly meeting to see how things were developing in both of their timelines. After sipping some tea Setsuna said, "So how are things coming with finding that heart crystal snatching gun?"

Sailor Pluto gave her younger self a knowing smile and said, "Oh it's been found. However, Neo-Queen Serenity has decided that the gun isn't to be handed over to you just yet. She states that Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune need to learn to work with their teammates before they can receive their talismans. Considering that the Outers in 30th century are dead because they insisted on working by themselves and were killed do to their lone wolf attitudes, I have to agree with the Neo-Queen. Since that Death Busters' plan won't move forward until they have the Holy Grail we can wait a bit for the talismans to be retrieved."

After listening to her future analogue Setsuna said, "While I agree with you that Haruka and Michiru need to learn to work with the Inners, why now? What I mean is why can't you tell me where the Death Busters are based at? Surely the Inners and Outers could learn to work together after this mess is all over? Training is best carried out when a war isn't happening."

With a small shake of her head Sailor Pluto said, "I'm not allowed to reveal the Death Busters' location to you. As dangerous as the Death Busters are, they are relatively harmless to the civilian population compared to possible future enemies the Sailor Scouts will have to face. The Scouts, both Inner and Outer, need more training if they are to handle some future threats that came up in my timeline may come up do to the divergence. It may sound callous and cold hearted of me, but the Death Busters need to continue to fight the Scouts so that the Scouts can be better trained."

Sailor Pluto looked Setsuna in the eye and said, "I know that neither of us want to see the Scouts and especially the princess hurt in battle. However, we can't protect them from every enemy that shows up and they need to learn to defend themselves. It would be one thing if the girls were willing to train in their powers, but we know that none of the other Scouts will train. At the moment all of them wish that they can just be 'normal' girls and won't touch their powers unless someone is under attack."

As much as Setsuna hated to admit it, her future self was correct. Still, that didn't make this tough love situation any easier for her to deal with. Setsuna then switched subjects and said, "I got a report from Chibiusa an hour ago. Apparently she used a Moon Magitec to track down the unknown Chaos magic user who helped out a few days ago. Chibiusa wasn't able to find the Nemesian prince, but she did find a young Chaos mage named Ranko Tohno. Does that name ring a bell?"

In very dignified manner Sailor Pluto replied, "That name doesn't ring a bell. I know Small Lady wouldn't lie about such a matter, but I just don't remember any mage by that name living in Japan in your time. When I head back to Crystal Tokyo I'll check the historical records. Perhaps Ranko Tohno lived in some other part of the world and her appearing in Tokyo is just an example of the butterfly effect as events in our two timelines continue to change."

"On the other hand there is a possibility that Ranko Tohno is from Nemesis. The Nemesian Senate provided us with very scant information about the missing prince. It's possible that Miss Tohno is part of a group that was sent back in time with the prince to watch over him or is the daughter of a member of such a group. This would explain why the Moon Magitec indicated that Miss Tohno created a Black Moon Clan style droid. Those things weren't developed until the 2300s. Before then the people of Nemesis used Youma style summons like the Dark Kingdom."

With the important issues of their meeting out of the way, both guardians of time started to talk about the latest gossip they had heard. One benefit of having their timelines permanently synchronized that they had found was having someone they could talk to. Having such a long life and witnessing so many critical moments in history meant that both of them had trouble talking with normal people. It wasn't like they could find anyone off the street to talk about how Alexander the Great was as a boyfriend verses Attila the Hun.

* * *

Ranma sat at the desk in his study room carefully reading one of many pieces of paper strewn all over his desk and spilling onto the floor. The various pages all over the place represented Ranma's current magical knowledge and some of his ideas on how to use magic in the future. Ranma had started writing all of this stuff down so that he could have something to reference back to while he was awake since Sapphire could only talk to him in his sleep. At the moment Ranma was wishing that he had taken the time to organize all of these pages instead of just leaving them in piles on his desk. Well, that was something he could correct later.

Eventually Ranma found the pages that he wanted and shouted out in success. Ranma then started to read his badly written, but still legible and through, notes. Mostly the notes Ranma was looking at dealt with magical armor and magical enhancement. A few of the notes were on droid construction and some relatively advance magical equations. For the next several hours Ranma carefully studied his notes and tried to see if his idea could actually work.

After dealing with Ryoga accidentally killing Mr. Yamaki and realizing his own reasons for continuing to learn magic, Ranma had decided that he needed to start using his powers to help people. Sure Ranma could help other people out as a normal person in some cases like his chance meeting with Chibiusa showed. However, Ranma knew from personal experience that there were things out there that needed to be taken care of that couldn't be handled by ordinary means.

Speaking of Chibiusa, Ranma found his new friend very intriguing. Chibiusa was a lot smarter and knowledgeable then Ranma had expected a ten year old girl to be. Not that Ranma really knew how a typical ten year old girl acted, but that was beside the point. Besides Chibiusa's intelligence and maturity, there was something else about Chibiusa that interested Ranma. At times when they were eating their ice cream Ranma had noticed a faint 'ghost' image of what looked like an older version of Chibiusa overlaying his preteen friend.

Now Ranma didn't know what all of these oddities Chibiusa had meant and frankly he didn't really care. She could be a little girl cursed to turn into an adult at odd times, an adult that had been transformed into a little girl or something else entirely. The kami knew that Ranma had seen plenty of people who had strange magical conditions. If Chibiusa fell into that category Ranma wouldn't have complained at all. Besides, it would be hypocritical of him to complain about Chibiusa hiding a magical condition from him when she only knew him in his female form.

Returning to the present, Ranma cleared his desk of every paper except for the ones he had been reading. Once the desk was clear Ranma set his notes on the desk and he pulled out a black sheet. Then with more focus then many people back in Nerima would have expected Ranma carefully began to work through some equations to make sure that his idea would work. The idea seemed sound and was supported by his notes, but Ranma wanted to make sure.

According to Sapphire, most mages who went into battle used magical armor and sometimes magical attacks that were crafted for their armor. The Sailor Scouts were one example of these armored magical warriors out of dozens that Sapphire could have named. One fact that connected all types of magical warriors was the fact that the normal method for empowering them was currently far beyond Ranma's current abilities as a mage. He might be able to create a talisman to grant him a few minor abilities, but any abilities would still have placed him at the lower rungs of his former associates' power levels.

So like Ranma did when he had faced off against Ryoga and the Shi Shi Hakudan, he approached gaining magical armor in a completely different manner. Instead of trying to weave several different complex spells into an outfit at once to make his magical armor Ranma was planning to create an actual suit of body armor. Each piece of the armor would have a single enchantment on it. These pieces would then be combined in his suit of armor to have the kind of effects that the normal method of creating magical armor granted people.

If Sapphire had been able to talk to Ranma the echo would have told the boy that such attempts had been attempted in the past. Those attempts had all been abandoned do to the headache that trying to integrate all of different enchanted pieces into a single outfit brought. However, this is where Ranma's bizarre luck and his ability to pull a new unexpected technique out of no where came in. Instead of just placing the enchantments on something like an earring, Ranma was planning to use droid creation techniques to create a suit of body armor. The only real enchanting Ranma was planning on doing was to create a body suit that would connect the various armor pieces together and allowing the pieces to reinforce each other.

It was a completely revolutionary way at approaching magical armor and from Ranma's calculations it would work. What really made Ranma's mouth water was the fact that his preliminary plans and calculations show that he could add a special system to his magical armor suit that would allow him to control his full magical ability. Not only would Ranma's armor allow him to actively fight against threats, but he could do it without losing control of his magic. Sure he'd still have to watch his magic whenever he used it in his 'civilian' form, but at least he'd have one less thing to worry about in battle. With his hair-brained idea confirmed, Ranma immediately set about designing what his armor would do so he could make it.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: This is a response to Kaliaila and those who share his point of view. There is a sharp philosophical difference between Ranma killing Saffron and what Ryoga did in my story. Ranma's kill was because he was trying to save life, Ryoga's kill was because he was reckless with his power. Ryoga has shown relatively little self-restraint with his abilities like when he was willing to use the Bakusai Tenketsu on Ranma when he thought it would kill Ranma. I am not trying to vilify Ryoga, but the boy does have some serious personality problems that he has to pay for in this story. With that out of the way lets move on to the story.

Over in Nerima the Tendos and the Saotomes were sitting down to a normal breakfast. For this bizarre household that meant that Soun was reading his newspaper, Genma was currently a panda, Nabiki was doing an impression of the living dead as she waited for her coffee to finish brewing, Akane was in her jogging clothes, and Kasumi along with Nodoka were bringing in breakfast from the kitchen. Once Nodoka and Kasumi sat down at the table the two families started to eat like reasonable people. Genma didn't use his typical speed eating anymore because Ranma wasn't there for speed training and Akane had used her mallet on the elder Saotome a few times. Surprisingly, Genma responded to Pavlov Conditioning very quickly when it came to his comfort and the promise to unite the schools wasn't involved.

This serene scene came to an abrupt halt when Soun cried out, "Wah! One of our families' friend is a terrorist!" Naturally this statement caused everyone at the table to do a spit take and let out a loud cry of shock.

Since Soun couldn't tell anyone what he meant by that statement do to becoming a human fountain, Nabiki reached across the table and grabbed the newspaper out of her father's hands. Nabiki quickly found what Soun was talking about and she read aloud, "Juvenile criminal Ryoga Hibiki explodes bomb at a gym in Shinjuku. One man killed in explosion and several others injured in debris." Nabiki didn't bother to read the rest of the article out loud and started to skim it before putting the newspaper down on the table.

Akane was shocked when she heard what Nabiki had read. It just didn't seam possible to Akane that Ryoga would do such a horrible thing. In a soft whispered voice Akane said, "No. That can't be true. Ryoga wouldn't do something like that."

Nabiki glanced at Akane, sighed, and then said, "Your right Sis. Ryoga wouldn't do something like this. However, it's quite believable that he killed someone." After seeing the shocked looks that everyone at the table was sending her Nabiki shook her head and felt a headache coming on. She started to massage her forehead and said, "Look everyone. Ryoga always uses that exploding trick of his to create a doorway when he's lost. Obviously he was lost at this gym, used that technique of his, and someone died in the explosion. Actually, when you think about it you have to wonder why someone hasn't died yet from that boy constantly using the technique."

Kasumi then joined in the conversation. "But Nabiki, why are they saying that Ryoga used a bomb? Surely he can just show that trick of his and that will clear up that he didn't plant a bomb. It's so awful that the police have their facts mixed up. Poor Ryoga will have a black mark for the rest of his life for this incident."

Nabiki's left eyebrow rose as the middle Tendo sister said, "Kasumi, the police don't have their facts mixed up. They almost certainly know exactly what happened at that gym and are deliberately spreading this story about Ryoga using a bomb. As surprising as it might seem to you people, the majority of people in this world believe that all of your super martial arts techniques are a bunch of fantasy. Even if Ryoga demonstrated that trick of his on live TV most people would believe that it is just special effects. The police here in Nerima give you martial artists a lot of leeway since Kuno pays the bribes and you people don't hurt anyone outside of yourselves."

"Accidental or not, Ryoga killed someone so the police have to be involved. Since they have to explain just how the boy killed someone they must have concocted the bomb story. I have to admit that it's a very good cover story. If I didn't know all you crazy marital artists I would believe this story myself. At least we don't have to worry about repairing the walls every time Ryoga gets turned around in the house when he visits." With that said everyone else around the breakfast table became very solemn and depressed.

* * *

Meanwhile in Juuban Michiru and Haruka were just finishing breakfast when Setsuna teleported into the kitchen. The couple at the table turned to look at their mysterious friend and Michiru said, "Is something wrong Setsuna? Did something come up at the Time Gates?"

Setsuna quietly grabbed a cup of coffee and walked over to the table. Once she had sat down and taken a few sips of her coffee the warrior of time said, "Did you know that this whole situation with the Death Busters could have been over by now? However, my future self is stonewalling all of my attempts at finding where the Death Busters are and is refusing to tell me where the talismans are other then the fact that you two will never be able to find them. According to her it's mostly because of you two that she's refusing to give up the information needed to end this battle."

Just like Setsuna expected Haruka shouted out, "What do you mean it's our fault?! We've been looking for those talismans and trying to track down where the Death Busters operate from. We've done nothing that should cause you to hinder the defense of the planet." It just didn't make any sense to Haruka. She and Michiru had been doing their best to stop the Death Busters. If anyone was causing the future Setsuna to not hand over the information it should be the Inners, not them.

Once Haruka had a chance to complain Setsuna said, "That's the problem right there Haruka. You and Michiru are so busy looking for the talismans, even after I've told you that you'll never find them, that your neglected the two primary rules about being a Scout. Always obey the heir of the Moon and never allow harm to come to civilians. How many times have you two abandoned a fight once you found out that there wasn't a talisman in a person's crystal heart? How many times have you two rejected Sailor Moon's request to work together?"

Michiru winced slightly at Setsuna's words. The senshi of Neptune didn't really like some parts of how she and Haruka were acting, but that was how they had acted in the Silver Millennium. In an attempt to defend their actions Michiru said, "But Setsuna we've done everything as we used to do in the Silver Millennium. The Outers have a set of assigned tasks and we're carrying them out."

Setsuna raised an eyebrow and said in a slightly sarcastic tone, "Correct me if I'm wrong Michiru, but didn't the Silver Millennium end several thousand years ago? You see I distinctly remember this little incident with Beryl where all the Scouts except for me had to be reincarnated." After Setsuna said this she shifted to a more authoritative tone as she continued on talking. "Face the facts, you two are trying to go about things like we're still living in the Silver Millennium and the rules have changed. That's why the princess is personally involved in the fighting now even though she doesn't like to fight and she didn't fight in the Silver Millennium."

Haruka pouted and said, "And just what would you have us do Setsuna? Forget about the talismans and hang out with those childish Inners? Those kids don't even take their duties as Sailor Scouts seriously." Both Michiru and Haruka blinked their eyes when they saw Setsuna pull out a block of cheese and set it down in front of Haruka. After a few seconds Haruka caught what Setsuna was implying and said, "Ha, ha, ha Setsuna. Never knew you were a joker."

Naturally Setsuna just shrugged her shoulders and said, "There's a lot you don't know about me Haruka. Look you two, the honest truth is that the Inners are better Scouts then you are. They've been in more battles then you and they fought tougher enemies then you have. True they don't train with their powers like they should, but then neither do you two. You two might have stronger attacks then most of the Inners currently have, but when it comes to experience your newbies compared to them. As for the Talismans, don't forget about them but don't go looking for them. They're safe for the moment and will be retrieved once you two learn how to play by the new rules."

While Haruka was tapping her fingers on the table she said, "We're not little kids Setsuna and you're not our mother. You don't need tell us to play nice with the other kids on the playground."

Setsuna then replied, "Compared to me you two are little kids. Oh and speaking about playing nice with the other kids, it seems that there's a third party entering our fight with the Death Busters. I haven't been told much about this new person or group, but whatever you do don't attack them. So far all this group has done is help the Inners out and I've been told by my future self that attacking this third party is a bad idea. Whatever you do don't attack this unknown faction. This may be hard for you Haruka because this group seems to use robot looking minions to help fight against the daemons. I repeat, you must not attack these robots or whoever is backing them."

Michiru had been silently listening to her lover and her friend talk trying to think about what she should say. Now Michiru saw something she could constructively add to the conversation and said, "Alright Setsuna. If it is truly that important then we will leave this newcomer alone for now. I don't know if we can successfully merge with the Inners to form a single cohesive team. In fact it could be that we'll have to break such a large team down into more reasonable teams. But, I know that Haruka and I can try."

* * *

Ranma was sitting in his family room doing a little review for tomorrow's history test when Tweety flew in chirping like crazy. Looking up from his textbook a slightly frustrated Ranma said, "What's the matter Tweety?" Instantly Tweety turned its head around and started chirping towards the study room. There was a slightly blank look on Ranma's face as he said, "I don't understand Tweety. What could possibly be in that room that is so important?"

Normally Ranma was able to easily figure out what Tweety was trying to tell him, but this time the young magician was having trouble. There shouldn't be anything in that room that could be causing Tweety to panic in such a matter. After all, he had properly disposed of all the failed attempts to create his magical armor. While in the end Ranma had completed his armor, there had been a few small problems along the way. Besides, only an idiot would leave a giant pile of damaged magical artifacts just lying around.

Suddenly Ranma remembered a small project he had been working on the side while he had been concentrating on the armor. The project was a sensor that would allow him to detect large concentrations of magical energy. It was an attempt to help Ranma locate any hostile magical threats. As much as Ranma wanted to live a peaceful life he knew he had a duty to use his abilities to protect the ordinary people from others who were less responsible with their powers.

Almost immediately Ranma got to his feet and dashed into his study with Tweety trailing behind. Once Ranma was in his study the young man grabbed the foot tall pyramid shaped sensor and put it on the floor. It was obvious that the sensor had found something because the top third of the pyramid was blinking. After Ranma put the sensor on the floor he pressed a tiny button at the very top of the pyramid causing the blinking portion to open up.

Ranma immediately looked up at the ceiling and saw a map of Tokyo. More specifically, he was looking at a map of Juuban. While the sensor was a marvel of magical skill, especially considering the fact that Ranma was still only a beginner, he wasn't too happy with what the sensor told him. All it showed was that there were eight concentrations and four concentrations of chaos magic next to each other in a park. He had absolutely no idea who, what, or how strong those concentrations were. If he went over to investigate what was going on he'd partially be going in blind.

Although Ranma didn't want to admit it a part of him wanted to pretend that the sensor never picked up on anything. That part of Ranma was arguing that this wasn't his fight. Wasn't this why he had left Nerima that traitorous part of his mind whispered? As Ryoga showed trouble would still find him even though he was no longer Ranma Saotome. Why should he cause more problems for himself by chasing after trouble?

That aspect of Ranma's personality was quickly crushed by his more noble and reasonable side. He wasn't rushing off to fight; he was going to investigate the situation. If it became clear that he'd have to fight then he'd fight. Ranma wasn't willing to fight just out of some sense of duty. Chibiusa had mentioned that she had friends living in Juuban and one or more of her friends could be hurt by this situation. There was no way that Ranma was going risk his friend's happiness because he didn't want to go into a situation without knowing all the variables.

So in a resigned manner Ranma put his left hand on the small new watch he was wearing on his right wrist and pressed two small hidden buttons. As Ranma was pressing those two buttons he said, "Active mode for magical armor initialize. Clearance code: skinny dipping in Jusenkyo." When Ranma had created his armor he based his transformation item on a Sentai show he had just seen on the TV. Once his transformation was complete the young mage teleported himself over to Juuban.

* * *

Things were not going well for the Sailor Scouts at the moment. Ever since Michiru and Haruka had tentatively joined forces with the Inners last week the new Scout team had managed to take out two of the witches 5. There was still some tension between the two groups of Scouts mostly because of Haruka, but on the whole everyone was working well together. Outside of Scout business the Outers weren't best friends with the Inners though they did get along with the Inners better on that account too.

Apparently the Death Busters had realized how dangerous this new Scout team was and had taken steps to try and neutralize the Scouts. In a surprising show of brainpower the Death Busters had actually prepared a trap for the Scouts which the girls had naturally fallen for. Originally Viluy had wanted to use eight daemons so that she could have them fight the Scouts one on one thus overwhelming them. However, Professor Tomoe nixed that idea and only allowed Viluy to use four daemons for this task.

Still, from where Viluy stood watching the fight she really couldn't complain about only having four daemons. Her forces were slowly, but surely winning this battle. Even with the addition of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune the Scouts were in serious trouble. They were still using the same old tactics and were being beaten because of that. Classic case of if you use the same tricks over and over again your enemy will learn how to beat you. Well Viluy had learned and was sure that this time at least one, possibly all, of the Scouts would be dead.

Oh Viluy could practically taste her victory already. It would prove once and for all that she was the best witch out of the Witches 3. The unlamented Eudial and Mimete had been fools focusing solely on collecting the talismans. Anyone with any brains would have realized that the Scouts would somehow prevent the Death Busters from ever collecting the talismans as long as they were alive. Once the Scouts were dead, Viluy could collect the talismans at her leisure.

* * *

Chibiusa was seriously considering saying the hell with it and turning off her disguise pen. Getting chewed out by the rest of the Scouts and grounded for life by her mother was far preferable to being dead. Right now the Scouts only had 7 people capable of killing the enemy. Of those 7 people there were 4 light hitters, 2 medium hitters and 1 instant K.O. person. Sailor Chibi Moon didn't factor into this equation anywhere and was at most a minor annoyance to the daemons.

On the other hand, Neo Sailor Moon was another instant K.O. for the enemy like Sailor Moon. At the moment the daemons had the Scouts outgunned, but if Neo Sailor Moon appeared then the Scouts could effectively fight the daemons 1 on 1 in terms of firepower. With how things were now the Scouts' lack of team training, particularly movement and placement training, was going to end up costing the Scouts their lives. Chibiusa was really angry at herself for not noticing the Scouts' lack of training sooner. That battle a few weeks ago with the two daemons should have clued her in to the fact that these Sailor Scouts weren't nearly as trained as their 30th century counterparts. Why oh why did she have to pull a Usagi on something this important?

Just as Chibiusa was about to summon her disguise pen to deactivate it she noticed two of the enemy attacks heading strait for her. In this instant Chibiusa's legs seemed to be bolted where they were and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't will herself to move at all. Time seamed to slow down for Chibiusa as she watched the two attacks head towards her. Her life started to flash before the young princess's eyes as she remained paralyzed by terror.

Suddenly Chibiusa was roughly ripped from where she was standing just before the attacks reached her previous location. Due to shock, terror, and the constant rolling Chibiusa was under she didn't immediately realized that she had been saved. Once Chibiusa's brain managed to catch up to the present she looked up to see who had saved her life.

Instead of seeing the face of one of the Scouts or possibly Tuxedo Kamen, Chibiusa was staring a black metallic mask. Actually, the mask was part of a demonic and robotic looking helmet that had a large black horn, an extra large chin, and glowing red eyes. A part of Chibiusa was terrified by those eyes and the face of her savior which made her want to scream like the little girl she pretended to been. Paradoxically another part of her felt drawn to those eyes as if they were promising to protect her from all the terrible things that hid in the shadows. Chibiusa then started to notice more about her savior and she saw that this person was completely covered in streamline black armor with blood read highlights here and there. The only really strange thing about this armor were the two large projections, Chibiusa couldn't think of a better word to describe them since those things defiantly weren't horns, that came out of the shoulders and stopped just below the top of the person's head. Chibiusa turned to look back at her savior's face and she said in a nervous tone, "Who, who are you?"

With a bestial tone caused by the voice changer in the armor Ranma said, "You may call me the Black Prince." Ranma had chosen that name as an alias because of Sapphire's suggestion that he look to the various royalties and higher level nobilities for his hero name. Since Ranma didn't want to be immediately identified by his old friends in Nerima, he had looked to Europe for inspiration. For some reason Sapphire found Ranma's choice to be very fitting though he wouldn't share why with Ranma.

All of the Scouts and all of the daemons paused for a moment to look at Ranma. No one was quite sure whose side the Black Prince was on though the Scouts were starting to expect him to be on their side a little more rather then on the daemon's side. Everyone's eyes were glued as Ranma slowly got up and gently set Chibiusa on the ground. Then Ranma turned to face the daemons and said, "You. Do you have any respect for the people living in this city? Your complete disregard for civilians and your abuse of your powers earns you only one thing: death by my hands."

In terms of raw power Ranma in his armor fell somewhere between the Outers and Sailor Moon. However, in terms of combat capability Ranma was far stronger then the Scouts. It wasn't Ranma's martial arts training that made him better then the Scouts because his higher level of skill was matched with their experience in fighting using magical enhancement. Even though using chi to enhance your body and using magic to enhance your body had practically the same outcomes there were subtle differences that Ranma wasn't used to yet.

What really made Ranma so much more powerful in his combat capability compared to the Scouts' combat capability was how he regulated his power. If one were to look at the typical Scout's stats one would see relatively minor physical enhancements with comparatively huge increases in magical defense and magical attack. Ranma had allocated less power to his magical attack and defense while increasing the physical enhancement portions. Now Ranma's attacks still packed quite a wallop, but they now were somewhere between the Inners and the Outers in attack power rather then the Outers and Sailor Moon. Very simply it was age old argument of generalization verses specialization.

Ranma let out a bestial roar and called out, "Reaper Claws!" Naturally Ranma had added an entirely new twist to magical power-ups by creating a short range magical attack. The metal gloves of his armor became covered in a violent purple-black energy that took the form of foot long claws. As soon as the claws had formed on his hands Ranma charged at the nearest daemon and used his claws to ripe the daemon in half.

While the just killed daemon's body was disintegrating around him, Ranma turned to look at the other daemons and let loose a savage roar. Mentally Ranma had order the armor to amplify his voice to the maximum resulting an almost glass shattering roar. Once of the core tenets of the Saotome school of Anything Goes was to get into your opponent's head and make them lose their cool. Normally this was done by using insults to get the opponent so angry that they forgot everything about fighting. However, Ranma was again going for a different approach. He had designed the armor to evoke the idea of a demon in the enemy's mind. The bestial voice he had built into the armor and the selective minor fear aura were also created to chip away at the enemy's resolve.

Apparently Ranma's hunch on the psychological tactics was correct. The daemons that the Death Busters used may have been artificial creatures, but Ranma had been able to reach the core primal instinct that every living creature had. That instinct was telling the daemons loudly and clearly that Ranma was the top of the food chain and that it would be a good idea to get away. First the daemon farthest away from Ranma started to run and it was quickly followed by the other two daemons.

The Scouts quite surprised by everything that Ranma had done since he saved Chibiusa. Several of the Scouts, including Usagi and Haruka, had nearly wet themselves when Ranma had let out that roar. However, all of the Scouts had the presence of mind to attack the daemons as they fled from the battlefield. Now that they could line up their shots without been stopped in mid-sequence Sailor Moon, the Outers, and the rest of the Inners were able to take out the remaining daemon.

* * *

When Viluy saw that her last remaining daemon had been destroyed, she attempted to flee from the battlefield. Sadly for her the eyes on Ranma's armor weren't just for show and he was able to detect her movement. The Black Prince Armor's sensors quickly confirmed that Viluy was the one behind the daemons because of the residual 'minion identification' signature that the armor had recorded. Back in Nerima before Saffron Ranma probably would have let her go to fight another day.

However Ranma now knew that this was real and so he reluctantly charged after Viluy. This was war and even though Ranma didn't want to take another life tonight he knew that the people of Juuban would be safer if Viluy was permanently taken care of. As Ranma leapt onto the roof Viluy had been using as and observational post he thought about which point on the body would result in the least painful death. Very quickly Ranma closed the distance between the two of them and he drove his Reaper Claws into the back of Viluy's skull. She didn't even have the chance to scream before death took her.

Do to the fact that the Scouts couldn't jump as high as Ranma could it took them a little while to catch up with the boy. When the Scouts got to the roof they were surprised to see the Black Prince standing over Viluy's body praying for her soul's passage. The Scouts had never seen a scene like this before and frankly it shamed them; particularly Usagi and Rei. With all of the fights the Scouts had been in and all of the enemies that had died, none of the Scouts had ever said a single prayer for their departed enemies. Seeing someone in such a scary outfit showing such concern for the enemy just after said person killed the enemy really hit the Scouts between the eyes.

Chibiusa stepped away from the other Scouts and slowly approached Ranma. She just knew that the person in front of her just had to be the Nemesian Prince. The massive magical power that Chibiusa felt emanating from the Black Prince reminded her of Prince Demand and Saphir. Only a closely blood related relative could possibly have a magical signal that close to someone else. The future princess stretched out her hand and in a friendly voice she said, "Hello there and thank you for saving my life. My name is Sailor Chibi Moon. Would you like to be friends?"

Ranma looked at Chibiusa and he once again saw an older double of Sailor Chibi Moon for a split second. He then really noticed the shade of Chibiusa's hair and realized that his new friend was standing right in front of him. Since Ranma didn't want to blow his cover just yet he simply reached out and shook Chibiusa's hand. As they were shaking their hands Ranma said, "Being friends sounds like a good idea."

At this point Rei stepped forward and said, "Who are you? Also, what are your plans regarding the city?" Rei didn't want to antagonize their new helper, but she also wanted to know exactly what the Scouts could expect when dealing with the Black Prince.

While still holding Chibiusa's hand Ranma turned his head to look at Rei. He then calmly said, "As I said, my name is the Black Prince. I have no plans for this city other then to make sure that the other magic users that live here don't abuse their power. As long as you fight to protect the people of this city everything will be fine. However, if you start to abuse your powers and maliciously use them on the people living here then I will stop you." Given the fact that Ranma was still standing next to Viluy's body the Scouts were easily able to figure out that the Black Prince was willing to use lethal means to take out those he considered a danger to the public.

Since Chibiusa did not want her first meeting with the prince she was searching for to go sour she clapped her hands and said, "Then there won't be any problems between us. We're the Sailor Scouts and our purpose is to protect people against the paranormal enemies that keep on appearing here in Juuban." Chibiusa wasn't about to try to press the Black Prince for information about him. In her mind this meeting was just so that she could establish communications with the prince. She could tell him about Nemesis later once he got to know her better.

Ranma nodded his head and said, "I know. It was I who created the droid that saved your life Sailor Chibi Moon. Goodbye for now. I know our paths will cross again because evil never rests and is never defeated." With that said Ranma let go of Chibiusa's hand and started walking away from the Scouts. Just as Ranma reach the edge of the roof he created a teleportation vortex and calmly stepped through leaving the Scouts behind.


	8. Chapter 8

Setsuna was walking down the streets of Nerima in her usual business suit and she was carrying a plan suitcase. The Senshi of Time was in Nerima because Setsuna thought she had a possible lead on the missing prince's location. Sure this new 'Black Prince' most likely was the Nemesian Prince, but there was always the chance that he was simply someone else who do to the butterfly effect had decided to take up the mantle of a superhero. With the Nemesian Senate breathing down Neo-Queen Serenity's neck on this matter, Setsuna and especially her 30th century analogue didn't to deal with the fallout that a wild goose chase would cause; particularly if that fallout came in the form of orbital mass-drivers. Getting pulverized into another ice age was not Setsuna's idea of a fun time. Besides, the citizens of Crystal Tokyo would probably get tired of being the ball in a ping-pong ball game of apocalyptic death and instant resurrection.

In an effort to avoid seeing how many times Neo-Queen Serenity could hit the reset button on the Earth's ecosystem, Setsuna and Sailor Pluto hit the history books. Using the incredibly dry if accurate historical records from the Crystal Tokyo timeline Setsuna ran a comparison with her timeline starting a little before the earliest date that was believed to be the point of divergence. Luckily Charon Castle's internal computer was able to do the actual comparison because otherwise this plan would have been impossible.

Two words naturally explained why Setsuna was here in Nerima: Ranma Saotome. Simply put, the boy shouldn't exist. In the CT timeline Nodoka Saotome had been childless. Ranma Saotome's existence couldn't simple be explained away as an early expression of the butterfly effect because Genma Saotome was sterile and Nodoka's psych profile showed that she would never cheat on her husband. Rape, as much as Setsuna hated to even consider that option, was thankfully not the reason for Ranma's existence even if it was the last reasonable explanation for his existence left.

Naturally Ranma's unexplainable birth put him at the top of a very short list of people who could potentially be the Nemesian prince. The fact that Ranma Saotome was, or at least had been, closely connected to the Black Moon Clan's ancestors living in this time was also something important to consider. If Ranma actually was the Nemesian prince then his close connection to his ancestors would provide him with the perfect smokescreen. In a way it was almost like that time 3,000 years ago when Achilles was hidden in the seraglio.

So just like her ex-boyfriend, Setsuna was coming to town to flush out a prince. The only reason why Setsuna hadn't immediately started a 24 hour stakeout around Ranma Tohno's residence is she wanted to get some more background information on the boy and possibly confirmation that he was the prince. Besides, getting some information on the real person would prove useful when figuring out how to contact Ranma or deal with him diplomatically in the future.

After a few minutes Setsuna reached the Tendo house and politely rang the doorbell. When Kasumi answered the door moments later Setsuna smiled and said, "Good day miss. My name is Setsuna Meiou and I am from a group that doing an investigation. Don't worry, nothing's wrong. The group I am working for is looking for something that has a, shall we say, magical connection. Our investigations have indicated that an associate of yours, Ranma Saotome, may have some information on the item that my superiors are trying to find."

Kasumi frowned a bit and replied, "I'm sorry Ms. Meiou. You see, no one living here has seen or heard from Ranma in almost a month. In fact, Ranma has apparently left the Saotome family and no one knows what his new last name is." The eldest Tendo sister scrunched her face for a moment as if she was in deep thought. She then smiled and said, "Please come inside Ms. Meiou. Maybe there's something Ranma did or said while he was here that could help you locate whatever it is your trying to find. At the very least let me get you some tea so that your journey isn't a total waste."

Setsuna politely nodded her head and said, "Thank you for your kindness Miss Tendo. If it's not too much of a bother, that tea does sound very good." There was something familiar about Kasumi that Setsuna couldn't quite place her fingers on. Whatever it was, it couldn't be more important then finding out about Ranma so Setsuna put that feeling on the back burner in her mind.

As Kasumi took a step backwards so that Setsuna could get through the front door Soun's eldest daughter said, "It's not a bother at all Ms. Meiou. But please, call me Kasumi. Miss. Tendo is a little too formal in my tastes for a friendly chat over tea."

In a surprising move Setsuna smiled and said, "Yes Kasumi. To be fair would you please just call me Setsuna?" Now Setsuna was a little surprised at her request since she normally didn't act this informally. The only reasons why she let the Inners get away with calling her Setsuna was because they were more comfortable with informality and because it was the princess who had first insisted on using her first name. Once the two were inside the house and the tea had been set up Setsuna said, "Kasumi. Before Ranma left this household, did something strange happen? By strange I mean beyond the usual weirdness that is supposed to have followed Ranma around like the plague."

With an innocent and seemingly naïve look on her face Kasumi said, "Something strange? Well let's see. There was that attempt by father and Uncle Saotome to get Ranma and Akane married, but Ranma never showed up before things started to get crazy. Ah, Ranma and several of his friends were in China a while ago trying to deal with some supposed cure that was in danger. Sadly I can't recall too much about the particulars of that adventure. Oh! I remember that when Ranma came back from China he had this interesting black mark on his forehead that looked like an upside down moon."

The other Scouts, particularly the Inners, would have been shocked to see Setsuna actually do a spit-take when she heard Kasumi mention the Eclipse. Setsuna immediately said with wide eyes as she pulled out a small picture, "Did you really see this mark on Ranma's forehead?" Kasumi looked at the photo Setsuna showed her and nodded her head wondering what was going on. Once Kasumi nodded her head Setsuna said, "I've found him. I've found the prince."

* * *

Over in one of the parks in Shinjuku, Ranma and Chibiusa were hanging out. Well, technically Ranko and Chibiusa were hanging out. Ranma hadn't introduced her male form yet to Chibiusa and so Chibiusa was only friends with Ranko Tohno. Ranma figured that Chibiusa wanted a normal friend besides the other Sailor Scouts and so had decided against revealing her curse. Besides, when the curse did reveal its head Ranma figured that Chibiusa would be able to deal with it because of her familiarity with magic.

Speaking of the Sailor Scouts, Ranma had decided to keep his big mouth shut on the fact that he knew that Chibiusa was Sailor Chibi Moon. As far as Ranma could see revealing that fact to Chibiusa without a very good reason would really sour their friendship and open a really nasty can of worms. Not the least of the problems would be how he knew she was Sailor Chibi Moon. Ranma wasn't willing to reveal that he was the Black Prince yet and he knew that revealing his knowledge about the Scouts would bring out that secret. He might trust Chibiusa, but he didn't trust or even know the other Scouts.

In Chibiusa's mind things were going great this week. She had a good lead on the Nemesian prince, the Death Busters were almost at half strength, Usagi hadn't made a complete idiot of herself today, and she was currently spending time with her first knew friend Ranko. Chibiusa looked up at her redhead friend and seriously thought about introducing Ranko to her other friends. In Chibiusa's mind Ranko would be a great role model for the Inners and she was sure that Hotaru would love to meet Ranko.

On the other hand, Chibiusa kind of wanted to keep Ranko as just her friend instead of her and the other Scouts' friend. Part of that probably was because she could let 'Usa' slip in a little bit instead of having to be Chibiusa in looks and actions. Chibiusa never felt the need to keep Hotaru a secret from the other Scouts and was actually quite happy to introduce her to the rest of the gang. But then again, Chibiusa had never had a dream with Hotaru involving whips, chains, a turkey baster, and hot fudge chocolate. A slight blush appeared on Chibiusa's face as she remembered one of those dreams where her friend and been involved and then it quickly vanished. The future princess was willing to consider the possibility that she was bi instead of strait, but she much preferred to believe that those dreams were simply the side effect of using the disguise pen for as long as she had been using it.

This peaceful scene that hidden royal duo had been enjoying quickly came to an end when they heard two young children scream. Instantly the two magical warriors jumped off of the park bench they had been sitting on and started looking for the source of the screams. Both of them were thinking of ways of disappearing so they could transform into their alter egos when the duo saw something that caused them to stand still in surprise.

Two little boys were in front of Ranma and Chibiusa running from an animated candle thing that was chasing them. One of the little boys had a rusty camping lamp in his hand and was screaming, "I want my wish back that genie cheated! We were supposed to become digimon tamers like in the TV show."

While dodging a tiny firecracker sized attack from the Candlemon the other kid said, "Dummy! You wished for a digimon not for us to become digimon tamers! My uncle in Nerima said that we'd have to be careful when using the magic lamp. He should know since he sells magical stuff." Ranma nearly face faulted when he heard one of the kids mention the curse item shop in Nerima. Didn't the store owner learn to not give these kinds of items to people too mentally immature to handle the items after that phoenix egg mess? Never having dealt with this kind of a situation before, Chibiusa was at a loss about what she should do.

Now Chibiusa can be excused for not have a clue as to what she was supposed to do in this situation because stuff like this didn't happen in Crystal Tokyo. No one back home would be so irresponsible as to give a child a magical item without making certain that the child was capable of and ready to use said item. Also magical lamps that granted wishes, provided that the wish was within reason, didn't exist in Crystal Tokyo so Chibiusa didn't know what her magic would do to the magic of the lamp. Oh Chibiusa knew that such things had existed, but all of the lamps had unfortunately been one of the many magical items that had been destroyed in the Foundation War of the 22 century.

Sadly for the royal duo, the choice about what they should do about this unexpected situation was quickly taken from them because the two kids turned and started running towards them. Naturally Ranma and Chibiusa immediately jumped out of the way of the oncoming kids. However, Chibiusa was used to jumping out of the way of magical craziness while in her Scout form and so she misjudged her landing. When Chibiusa hit the ground she rolled a little from twisting her ankle.

By chance, fate, or simply dumb luck Chibiusa's hand brushed against the Candlemon when she finished rolling. Ranma was about to run over and grab Chibiusa to get her out of the way when the Candlemon glowed and then exploded into a cloud of pink smoke. Once the smoke cleared the Candlemon was gone and Ranma saw an unconscious, and nude, Usa. The magic of the lamp and the magic in her disguise pen did not mix well resulting in Usa being knocked out and the pen short-circuiting.

Immediately after getting confirmation that Usa's pink hair was indeed her natural color, Ranma rushed over and grabbed her unconscious body. Ranma then used her body to provide Usa with some modesty. She then grabbed up Usa's shredded kid clothes and prepared a transportation spell. As soon as the black void of the transportation spell was formed Ranma picked Usa up and jumped through the void.

* * *

Mamoru was sitting in his apartment on the couch holding Jadeite's, Nephrite's, Zoisite's, and Kunzite's crystalline remains that he had placed in a special plaque. As the reincarnated Prince of Earth looked on his four former best friends he couldn't help but cry. He needed his friends and he needed his tutors. Thanks to that car accident Mamoru couldn't remember any of the spells that he knew he had once wielded as Prince Endymion. Whatever he had done instinctively with his magic that day to save his life seemed to have created a permanent block on that portion of his memories.

Words just couldn't describe just how frustrated Mamoru was with himself. Unlike his beloved Usako and her friends Mamoru couldn't count on suddenly learning a new magical spell to defeat the monster of the week. In the Earth Kingdom you had to go to a school to learn how to use magic as opposed to the Moon Kingdom where almost all of the spells a person would bother to learn in their lifetime were downloaded into the person's subconscious shortly after birth. Earth's way allowed for people to be far more flexible in their magical abilities while the Moon's way insured that a person always knew how to do certain spells.

In practical terms Mamoru, or rather Tuxedo Kamen was dead weight and he knew it. Without his memories of Prince Endymion's magical training Mamoru had to stumble along in the dark alone trying to figure out how to use his magic. He couldn't ask Ami if he could borrow the Mercury computer as a study guide because there wouldn't be any old Terran magic recorded there. Even with how badly his memories of Endymion were scrambled up Mamoru did remember that the people of the other planets never recorded Terran methods of using magic because they viewed it as inferior.

Sensing their liege's distressed, the Four Heavenly Kings's crystals glowed and the four stood around Mamoru in their astral bodies. Jadeite was standing in front of Mamoru with Nephrite and Zoisite flanking the prince while Kunzite stood behind their lord. The four waited for Mamoru to look up and see them standing around him. Before Mamoru could express his shock Jadeite said, "Easy there Endy. The guys and I are here because you are in the pits. I'd suggest getting you plastered, but I don't think the Misses would approve and it's kind of hard to do a pub craw when you don't actually have a body."

Zoisite immediately shot back, "Why would the prince do such a stupid thing as getting drunk? Might I remind you of the trouble one can get mixed up in when you get so drunk that you can't walk home? I seem to recall that it took you six months for you to finally convince the princess of Mars to let you back into her bed again after that little fiasco with the two Nubian bar wenches."

Kunzite rolled his eyes and then said in a dignified manner, "Children please. Might I remind you that we're on the clock here? The senior of the Four Heavenly Kings walked around the couch and into Mamoru's sight. He then said with his hands behind his back, "We are here Endymion to tell you of a ritual that will allow you to regain your full memories and thus your powers as the Prince of Earth. Once you regain your memories and powers you should be able to go toe to toe with both of the Outers and emerge victorious."

Nephrite then placed his hand on Mamoru's shoulder and said, "On the first day of the New Moon before the Sun rises look to the west and think with all your might on the Hearth Temple of Atlantis. You don't have to remember the temple; just remember to focus on that temple. This will transport you the main temple of the Earth Kingdom. Once you are in the temple head to the inner sanctum and retrieve Excalibur from its resting place. Then as the Sun just starts to rise you must raise Excalibur above your head and said 'I am Prince Endymion. I ask you Oh father Sol to restore my mind and soul like you restore the land with your life giving light.' If you do that your memories and powers will be restored to you."

The Four Heavenly Kings' bodies then started to fade from Mamoru's sight. As they were fading Kunzite said, "Remember Endymon, the New Moon before the Sun rises. If you make a mistake you'll have to wait an entire cycle before you can try again." With that said the four were gone leaving Mamoru with something that he hadn't had in a long time; hope that he could make a difference.

* * *

Back at the Tendo house almost every regular member of the NWC had assembled within ten minutes of Setsuna saying that she had found the prince. Pretty much all of Ranma's former associates had a sixth sense that told them when something crazy was about to happen, thus alerting them to the fact that they should head over to the Tendo house. The only people absent were the Kunos who didn't have this sense, the fathers who were too drunk at a bar to recognize what their six senses were telling them, and Ryoga who was currently in maximum confinement after unintentionally escaping prison two days ago. Nabiki became the unofficial spokeswoman for the Nerima regulars and she said, "Alright Miss. Meiou. What's this about Ranma being a prince?"

Setsuna knew that they had her backed into the proverbial corner and she decided that it might be necessary to reveal some secrets. With a resigned sigh Setsuna said, "Alright. I work in the intelligence department for a country called Crystal Tokyo. This country exists about a thousand years in the future. For the past couple of years Crystal Tokyo has been at war with another country called Nemesis. Recently the two countries have gained a shaky armistice after the previous prince of Nemesis attempted to destroy Crystal Tokyo in this era by killing people who would eventually go on to lay the groundwork for my country."

"The Nemesian Senate has refused to discuss more then the current armistice with Crystal Tokyo until the heir to the Nemesian throne is found. Recently we learned that Saphir, who was the brother of the previous Nemesian prince, had a son that he sent to this era to protect the boy from the war. Crystal Tokyo was told this because my country is the only country that still has a working time machine. Nemesis is threatening Crystal Tokyo with an orbital bombardment unless we safely bring back the heir to the Nemesian throne. All members of the Nemesian royal family have the mark of the Eclipse on their foreheads." To prove her point Setsuna showed everyone a photograph of the Eclipse.

Every member of the NWC immediately recognized the eclipse and they remembered seeing that mark on Ranma's forehead before he left. Obviously, Ranma was in the middle of a major adventure again and he hadn't even appeared yet. Naturally Nabiki played the part of the skeptic and she said, "No offense Miss. Meiou, but I serious have to question your story. Even if I were to believe that you work for a country that exists in the future, which I am still not completely sure, I have to question your belief that this mark makes Ranma the missing prince. After all, couldn't Ranma be an ancestor of the Nemesian royal family?"

Setsuna shook her head and replied, "In understand your position Miss. Tendo. However, I can tell you with complete certainty that Ranma isn't an ancestor of the Nemesian royal house. Besides the fact that according to the historical records Mrs. Saotome never had a child, there is another reason why Ranma can't be an ancestor of the prince I'm looking for. You see, the royal family of Nemesis is descended from Kasumi."

Before anyone else could say something Nodoka said, "It makes sense. That's how he knew about my condition." Everyone in the room quickly turned their attention to the Saotome matriarch. Nodoka knew that it was time to come clean and she said, "Several months before Ranma was born I received a notice from the doctor stating that Genma was sterile. After I receive the noticed a strange man named Saphir suddenly appeared in the living room claiming to be from the future. He said that he needed to hide his embryonic son because of a war looming on the horizon and because of court intrigue. I agreed to carry the child and raise him as my own so Saphir used some sort of magic to place Ranma into my womb."

At this point Akane made the time out hand sign and she said, "Wait a minute! Ranma isn't really Uncle Genma and Auntie Nodoka's son, but he's the son of this Saphir person and some unknown woman a thousand years in the future? Also, Saphir is descended from Kasumi? That means that Daddy and Uncle Genma have been trying to make me marry my own nephew!" Nodoka and the Tendo sisters all started to look a little green when they thought about the situation. Everyone else in the NWC was trying to figure out just how they should react to that little fact.

Cologne nodded her head as she thought about the new situation surrounding Ranma and she was once again thankful that she had ended Shampoo's marriage to the boy. Now it came out that technically Ranma hadn't ever been married to Shampoo since he was royalty. After a bad encounter with the son of a White Hun Kan 2,000 years ago, the Amazon council had ruled that royalty, particularly the heir to the throne, were permanently exempted from the Kiss of Marriage rule. A single unwilling husband was one thing, but an unwilling husband with an army at his beck and call was an entirely different thing. The Amazon Nation hadn't survived 3,000 years by being stupid.

Setsuna waited a few minutes for everyone to calm down a little bit and then she said, "Thank you for your time everyone. Whether you believe me or not, you've done a great service today. Especially you Mrs. Saotome, if you hadn't been compassionate enough to accept Ranma as your child I fear that the Nemesian Senate would have tried to destroy Crystal Tokyo even if it meant mutually assured destruction." With that Setsuna promptly left the Tendo house and started walking to the subway. Now that she knew who the prince was the only thing she had left to do was to talk to Ranma.

* * *

Usa opened her eyes and she instantly realized that she wasn't in her bedroom at her grandparents place. As soon as Usa realized this fact she shot up and realized that she wasn't in her little girl form. For a second Usa wondered why she wasn't in her chibi form and then she remembered that she had touched that strange creature that had been summoned by a magical lamp.

Instead of screaming out in shock like Usagi probably would, Usa tried to figure out where she was. A cursory glance of her surroundings told her that she was in a typical bedroom. Usa was happy about that because it meant that she probably hadn't been kidnapped by some dark organization. Her eyes then spotted a small stack of clothes that had been neatly folded and place near her on the floor. In a slightly apprehensive manner, Usa raised the covers off of her slightly and saw that she was nude. Unlike most of the Scouts, Usa threw off the covers and proceeded to get dressed. Obviously if whoever owned this place was going to take advantage of her, then that person would have done it while she was asleep.

Once Usa was dressed she opened the door and peaked outside. Like Usa had suspected someone was sitting nearby waiting for her to awake. At this point Ranma looked up from his book and said, "Sit down Chibiusa or whatever name you want to be addressed as while you're in that form."

Since she had already stumbled down the rabbit hole, Usa figured that she didn't have anything more to lose and she quickly sat down across from Ranma. As soon as Usa sat down she said, "Alright mister. Who are you and how do you know the name I usually go by?"

Ranma gave Usa a friendly smile, but inside he was extremely nervous. She was Ranma's first true friend and he was really worried that their friendship would end once all of the deceptions between them had been stopped. Nevertheless Ranma said, "My name is Ranma Tohno and there is a very good reason why I know what your name is Chibiusa. You see," and here Ranma paused a second to pull out a small cup of water and splash himself with it. As soon as the curse activated Ranma said, "I am also your friend Ranko Tohno. A while ago I received a curse that allows me to change genders with hot and cold water. Just so you know I was guy originally."

Typically this would be the point where Ranma would be called a freak, a pervert, or asked a range of very embarrassing questions. However, Usa didn't do any of those sorts of things. She didn't even claim that Ranma had been lying to her when they had hung out since that would make her a hypocrite. Instead, Usa thought about the situation for a few minutes. Sure the curse was very strange, but Usa could accept it easily enough. The future princess then decided to return the favor and said, "You can call me Usa while I'm in this form. I use Chibiusa when I'm a little girl to help my friends differentiate me from my mother." As soon as Usa said that she realized what she had let slip.

In a confused manner Ranma said, "So your friends can tell the difference between you and your mother? Shouldn't they be able to tell the difference? Wait a second, are you from the future?" Most people probably wouldn't have ever asked such a thing, but then again most people didn't have experience with time travel.

Usa nodded her head and said, "Yes Ranma, I'm from the future. The reason why I go around as Chibiusa is because I've already travel to this time period when I really was that young. My mother, at least my mother in the future, told me that I was needed in the past again and 'Chibiusa' already had an identity in the past." Usa was congratulating herself for finding the right balance of answering Ranma's questions while not really saying anything at all.

While shrugging his shoulders Ranma said, "Okay so you're from the future. I've got just one question for you, how are you going to pretend to be Chibiusa again? That disguise trinket of yours was completely fried."

Instead of going into a panic, Usa narrowed her eyes. In a friendly and yet firm tone the future princess said, "And how do you know that the disguise pen is damaged Ranma." While it was possible that he had simply made a guess as to the disguise pen's status, Usa wasn't betting on it. Ranma's tone and body posture as he said that was too confident to be a bluff.

Once again Ranma shrugged his shoulders and said, "I know that the trinket you were using is ruined because I examined it. While I'm not an expert on magic, I do know a lot more about magic then most people on the planet. How do you think you got here without there being a huge production going on outside about a naked girl being carried through the streets? From what I can tell the original spells on the pen are still on it, but they've been isolated from each other and the magical 'battery' on the pen has been completely exhausted. Sadly, the pen is beyond my current ability to repair."

Usa let out a small curse under her breath and then closed her eyes. How was she going to explain this to the other Scouts? Oh, her mother was probably going to ground her for life once she got back to Crystal Tokyo. How by the Goddess was she supposed to find the prince now?

Just as Usa was about to lose her cool because of all the problems having the disguise pen ruined would bring, the air conditioning kicked in. The sudden breeze pushed Ranma's hair aside just enough so that Usa could see the Eclipse on his forehead. Instantly Usa froze up when she saw that mark since it meant that all this time she had been looking for Ranma. Before Usa could say anything to Ranma about being the prince, the doorbell rang.

Ranma got up and said, "Let me get the door Usa." He then walked to the front door wondering who it could be, and then he opened the door. Usa was also curious about who could be at the door and so she tilted her head to look at the door. Both of them were surprised to see Setsuna calmly standing in front of Ranma's front door.


	9. Chapter 9

Setsuna immediately knew when Ranma opened the front door that he was the prince. Now Setsuna had never seen a photo of Ranma before, but she could instantly tell that he was the young man she was looking. The reason why Setsuna could make this call and know that Ranma wasn't a guest was because of his face. Ranma looked so much like Saphir that there was no mistaking his identity. At long last the prince had been found.

Just as Setsuna was about to give herself a mental cheer for finding Ranma she suddenly noticed Usa sitting down in the living room. Even though Setsuna would never admit it, the fact that one of the Scouts managed to find Ranma first was a serious blow to her ego. The ageless Guardian of Time knew that Usa was looking for Ranma as well, but she had figured that she would find the prince well before the princess did. After all, she had the Time Gate, Charon Castle's supercomputer, and centuries of experience whereas Usa only had a handheld sensor and dumb luck.

However, it wasn't the Serenity family's insane oddball luck or the fact that she had to eat humble pie that rendered Setsuna speechless. It was the fact that Usa was currently a 17ish pink bombshell instead of a cute little girl that was completely throwing Setsuna for a loop. They say that children grow up fast, but this was nuts. Setsuna knew that Usa couldn't that old since the timelines were locked together and she sputtered out, "C-chibusa! How by the Goddess are you that old?"

Usa scratched the back of her head as Ranma and Setsuna looked at her. Setsuna's shock and disbelief was plainly visible while Ranma simply looked confused. In a slightly embarrassed tone the future princess said, "Uh Setsuna? You remember that time when Wiseman kidnapped me and transformed me into Black Lady? Funny thing about that is that mother couldn't undo Wiseman's spell. I'm still me it's just that I'm no longer in my child body. 'Chibiusa' and 'Small Lady' only exist because their presence is more comforting among the masses then my true form would be. It's all smoke and mirrors to keep the masses content."

At this point Ranma raised his hand and said, "Will someone please fill me in on the details? Usually I wouldn't butt my nose into your business since I don't like people butting into my business. However, I do prefer to know about anything in my house that's over 2 on the weirdness meter. Now since you two obviously know each other, why don't you come in miss so that we can talk about this like adults?"

There was a faint hint of a blush on Setsuna's face as she walked inside. Usually she was so calm and collective, but twice today something had happened that completely broke her calm. If things kept up like this then she'd loose her reputation as the Ice Queen. Once Setsuna was inside she politely bowed her head and said, "My name is Setsuna Meiou."

Ranma nodded his head and said, "Nice to meet you Setsuna. Now would someone please explain who 'Wiseman' is and why Usa has to worry about keeping the masses happy?" In the back of his mind Ranma was trying to figure out what was going on. The only thing that Ranma could be sure of was that things were about to get even crazier then they had been.

Usa knew that it was time to tell Ranma everything so she calmly said in the authorities tone that all Serenities seemed to be able to use, "My name is Princess Serenity Usagi Tsukino, grand duchess of India, countess of Arabia, the princess of Crystal Tokyo, and heir to the Crystal Crown. I am from the 30th century. In my time the Earth is united under my mother Neo-Queen Serenity's rule."

So Usa was a magical princess from the future? Well that was certainly an interesting twist. Personally Ranma was surprised that he hadn't encountered a magical princess before considering all of the mystical princes he had met. A moment later Ranma remembered a little fact from his conversations with Sapphire. If Usa was from the future then it was very likely that she was a contemporary of Saphir. Ranma then decided to try and get some more information and said, "Okay. Why are you here in the past Usa? Don't get me wrong because I'm thrilled to have met you, but traveling through time isn't exactly something anyone would really want to mess with."

At this point Setsuna decided to add her own two cents. "Usa didn't exactly travel through time Ranma. At least, she didn't travel through time in the sense that you're probably thinking off. You see, Usa's time and the present are locked together. For every second that goes by now an equal amount of time passes in Crystal Tokyo. The two timelines are completely separate in terms of causality so its more like Usa traveled to a different country then she traveled through time. Don't try to think too much about it since it will only cause you to get a headache."

Ranma scratched his head and said, "You've completely lost me. However, you still haven't answered my question. Why is Usa hanging out in this time?"

Before Setsuna could respond Usa replied, "I'm in this time for to reasons. The first reason is to insure that my mother's counterpart is able to protect the world. No one knows what having the two timelines linked together will do if one timeline suffers a catastrophe. The second reason why I'm in this time is to find you Ranma. You see, you're the heir to the Nemesian throne."

If Ranma had been drinking anything at all then he would have done a spit-take when he heard that news. As it was, Ranma merely stumbled a bit and then said, "How can I be the heir to a magical kingdom 1,000 years in the future?"

Setsuna then calmly said, "Ranma, Nodoka Saotome is not your mother. At least, she is not your biological mother. The brother of the previous Prince of Nemesis, whose name is Saphir, traveled back in time and with Nodoka's permission he implanted you into her womb. Your biological mother was a member of the Nemesian Court who most likely would have aborted you if Saphir hadn't used his magic to remove your embryo from her womb. Almost four months ago your father and your uncle died because of the machinations of a creature by the name of Wiseman. Luckily for everyone in the 30th century your uncle was able to take Wiseman with him to the grave."

Ranma wanted to immediately deny that what Setsuna and Usa were saying was true. It wasn't because Ranma thought they were being crazy; Ranma just didn't want to be a prince. Part of this was because Ranma wanted to live a semi-normal life and being a magical prince in the future wasn't normal even by his standards. The other reason was simply that Ranma was afraid. He had read enough history to know how many times a foolish leader had seriously messed up resulting in a great deal of pain for the leader's subjects. That was one responsibility that Ranma didn't want.

However, even as much as Ranma wanted to deny it, he knew that Setsuna and Usa were telling the truth. There was something in their eyes and their voice as they spoke that told Ranma that they weren't trying to sell him a bridge. Also, Ranma started to remember Sapphire's small oddities when the echo was teaching him. Whenever Sapphire taught Ranma he would throw in a bit of information here and there on Nemesis. These were facts that weren't useful for a simple magician, but would be invaluable for someone who might become a ruler of Nemesis.

At that moment Ranma realized what Sapphire was doing with him. The echo wasn't just trying to help him gain control of his magic. It was also trying to groom him for the throne at the same time! How many lessons had been trying to do both at the same time? The ability to rationally figure out how to analyze a magical item could basically be applied to figuring out what a courtier or an ambassador was trying to do as well. All of those ethics lectures on how to responsibly use magic were just as applicable to political power as they were to magical power.

If it wasn't for Ranma's numerous encounters with the bizarre then he probably would have fainted as his mind found even more clues in his life to back up the ladies' claim. Thanks to that partial immunity to weirdness Ranma only wobbled a little bit as he slowly walked over to his chair and sat down. Once Ranma was sitting down he said, "What's going to happen now that you've found me?"

Even though Usa was a little surprised that Ranma had accepted what they had told him so quickly, she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. In a very friendly manner Usa said, "We have two options available Ranma. The first option is you visit Nemesis on your free time and the rest of the time you stay here for now until you finish your education. If you choose this option then one or two of the top magistrates in the Nemesian government will be granted limited access to the Time Gates so that he or she can come to this time and tutor you in your future responsibilities. The other option is that you go to Nemesis and spend most of your time in the 30th century. Considering how unsure we are about the effects the timelines have on each other and the fact that you have a legal identity in this time there may be times when the Black Prince will be helpful."

Ranma closed his eyes and thought very hard about his options trying to go over every angle that he could. For several minutes he sat completely still in his seat trying to figure out what he should do. In the end Ranma sighed and said, "Let me pack a few things. Once I've packed we can travel to the future."

* * *

Neo-Queen Serenity gracefully waited in the reception hall of Charon Castle and glance over to her only company in the imposing room. Chancellor Seto was an extremely imposing young man. He was tall and rather wiry, but his angular face and piercing blue eyes helped enhance the imposing aura he seemed to radiate. The Neo-Queen knew that the truly freighting thing about Chancellor wasn't his looks, but his keen intellect and his utter ruthlessness. About the only thing that Serenity could truly find acceptable about Seto was the fact that he was absolutely loyal to the Black Moon Clan and would do anything in his power to protect the Clan. That was a trait that Serenity respected even if the person in question seemed to be constantly assessing if she was or wasn't a threat.

Chancellor Seto currently had his trademark scowl on his face with his rod of station in his hand as he waited for his lord to appear. The scowl on Seto's face was directed only towards himself. In Seto's mind the near extinction of the Clan was his fault because he hadn't caught on to what Wiseman was doing and stopped the creature. Praise the ancestors that Saphir had been so crafty that the Clan survived. Seto promised he would do everything in his power to help his prince. It was the only way he could hope to redeem himself for that horrible mistake.

Both leaders immediately turned their attention to one of the doors that suddenly opened and then they watched as the two heirs walked through the door. Even though they were shocked at Usa's current condition, neither leader commented on it. As Usa walked towards her mother Ranma looked around and locked eyes with Seto. Ranma then said in a friendly manner, "I take it that you're representative from Nemesis?"

Seto gave only the faintest hint of a nod as he said, "Yes Prince Ranma. I am Chancellor Seto. If you wish would you please follow me? Our transport is waiting outside."

Ranma politely said, "Just a minute Seto." He then turned to Neo-Queen Serenity and said, "I've heard about the difficulties between our two peoples. Hopefully we can work things so that our peoples are less hostile to each other." After receiving a pleasant nod from the Neo-Queen Ranma said, "Well then Seto lets head home." Now the idea of Nemesis being home was strange to Ranma, but he to create the sense that he was comfortable with the idea.

Once Ranma and Seto were in the transport Ranma said, "Let me be honest with you Seto. I'm going to need your help and advice in dealing with the government for a while. Now I don't want you to just run the government without me; I just want you to tutor me in what I'm supposed to do. Keep me from insulting the wrong person or stepping on anyone's toes."

Even though Seto's face was still set in its usual frown he was smiling on the inside. The Chancellor had been expecting that he'd have to tutor Ranma a bit and was pleased that the Prince had arrived at the same conclusion. At the very least it was a sign that Ranma could be a halfway decent prince. For the rest of the two hour flight over to Nemesis Seto gave Ranma a crash course in the politics of Nemesis. Unlike Crystal Tokyo which was an absolute monarchy, Nemesis was a constitutional monarchy where the powers of the Prince and the Nemesian Senate were clearly defined by law. This was actually one of the major causes of the Foundation War.

When the transport arrived at Nemesis it flew to the capital city of Yamoto and landed on one of the private landing platforms at the palace. Seto led Ranma out of the transport and Ranma quickly noticed the small gathering by the landing platform. Ranma glanced over at Seto who quickly got the message and said, "These are heads of your cabinet Excellency. From left to right we have the Secretary of the Military Heero Yuy, Secretary of Science and Magic Teletha Tessarosa, Secretary of Finance Tamahome Yuki, Secretary of Foreign Matters Releena Yuy, and the Secretary of Intelligence Ishizu Ishtar."

For a second, Ranma was surprised to only have five cabinet members. Then he remembered that as a rule Nemesians abhorred bureaucracy. Apparently it had something to do with the complete collapse of the Western countries due to excessive bureaucracy. Ranma's surprise was quickly replaced by a small grin and he said, "It is a pleasure to meet all of you. Hopefully you all will be able to find the patience to help me learns the ins and outs around here so that the people of Nemesis have a fair and just government."

* * *

At the other end of the Solar System in the Crystal Palace Neo-Queen Serenity, Neo-King Endymion, and Usa were sitting around in one of the private living rooms. Serenity looked at Usa and calmly said, "So how are things going in the 20th century dear?"

Usa smiled and said, "Aside from having to be a little kid things were great. No offense mother, but your analogue isn't the greatest. She means well and has a big heart, but there are times where I swear a manikin has more sense then she does." This caused Serenity to blush and Endymion to chuckle a little bit. Continuing on Usa said, "Besides Ranma I also made a friend by the name of Hotaru. She's a nice girl and I hope I can visit the 20th century again to talk to her. As to Scout business, there's good news and there's bad news. Good news is that the Haruka and Michiru are working with the Inners. Bad news is that the Death Busters are starting to use common sense and are learning from their mistakes."

Endymion folded his hands together and said, "This could be a serious problem. If the Death Busters adapt quickly enough they could defeat the Scouts of the 20th century. Perhaps a more active presence in the 20th century is needed. However, that decision can wait for now."

Serenity immediately jumped in and said, "That's right. We'll worry about the Death Busters during work time tomorrow. Let's talk about something a little more relevant. What sort of man is Ranma? How will he affect Crystal Tokyo's relationship with Nemesis?"

After thinking for a second Usa said, "I think that having Ranma as the head of Nemesis will be good for Crystal Tokyo. While Ranma will probably make Nemesis a lot stronger then it was under Demand, we really shouldn't worry. From what I've seen Ranma will do whatever he can to improve the lives of his people and he won't really be interested in waging a war with us. That's not to say we won't have problems with Nemesis, but things won't get as bad as they were during the Wiseman War. At the worst we should be able to institute a tournament to decide things."

The Neo-King and Neo-Queen looked at each other for a moment and nodded their heads. Endymion then said, "Well I guess that's about a good as we could hope for or expect. Usa, your mother and I will talk about whether it's appropriate now for us to reveal your condition. While it's likely that we will be able to reveal your growth, please stay in the private quarters when you're in that form for now."

Usa caught her father's subtle hint and she quickly said her goodbyes before leaving the room. Once she was out of the room the princess started to head for her bedroom. However, before Usa could get to her bedroom she was intercepted by one of the maids who said, "Princess. Lady Minako wishes to speak to you in her quarters."

The maid was not at all surprised when Usa let out a small groan and said, "Okay I'll be there shortly. Don't bother to inform Aunty Mina since she's probably not expecting you to tell her. Have a nice day." Usa love all of the Scouts as her aunts, but they could all be exasperating at times. Personally Usa blamed the Scouts' incredibly long lives for those quirks that they had developed. Minako's quirk was just a little…imposing.

After walking across the palace wing Usa arrived at the door to Minako's quarters and pressed the doorbell. Minako quickly called out from behind the door, "Come in Usa come in." Usa gulped a little and then opened the door so she could quickly walk inside. Once the princess was inside she looked around to find where exactly Minako was at. Much to Usa's annoyance, Minako was lying nude on a giant clamshell like couch. After looking at her aunt for a second Usa grumbled out, "I know you're the warrior of love Aunty Mina. But seriously, do you have to act like Aphrodite?"

Minako just smirked and said, "Try dieing and being resurrected a few times princess. It makes those annoying things like modesty and morality that you're so hung up on seem less important then they used to be. As long as I present the calm commanding face as Sailor Venus no one really cares who or how many guys I have in my bed. Besides, the news reporters would starve if I didn't do something scandalous at least one a week. Everyone else here in the palace is too prudish to supply the gossip page."

Usa just shook her head and said, "Enough of the chitchat Aunty Mina. Why did you call me here? You don't usually invite someone to your quarters unless you have something important that needs to be discussed privately or you want a bed warmer. Since you don't play for the other team I have to assume that there's something important you wanted to discuss with me."

Instead of answering Usa's question Minako sipped a martini and said in a slightly playful manner, "Actually I have 'played for the other team' a few times on some of my wilder parties. However, I don't think Serenity would be happy with me if I were to bed you just yet so you're off the hook for now." Minako then became a lot more serious and said, "Usa I want to start teaching you seduction tactics."

Before Usa could shout out her absolute disgust at the idea Minako sent a commanding glare at the princess. That glare stopped Usa in her tracks and prevented her from uttering a sound. Minako then stood up and said, "Now's not the time to get all high and mighty with me dear niece. Let me tell you something that your mother and father have probably neglected to tell you: our infrastructure is almost completely destroyed. Even with the Ginzushou it will take years to repair the damage Nemesis did to us during the Wiseman War."

"I won't give you the full details now, but the bottom line is that Crystal Tokyo is defenseless. If we were to go to war with Nemesis now we will loose. Even our best projections have us lasting a year at best before we only have unconditional surrender as our only option. Nemesis stopped the war only because the Black Moon Clan was nearly destroyed. If this new Prince Ranma decides to continue the war then Nemesis will be above our skies in force by the end of the day."

"The only way Crystal Tokyo can survive is for Prince Ranma to not attack us until we at least get back on our feet in a few years. Your parents will try to appease the Prince into leaving us alone. However, it only takes a few disgruntled politicians in the Nemesian Senate to try and convince the Prince to attack us. What we need is someone in the prince's bed whispering in his ear that attacking is a bad idea."

Minako paused for a moment before she continued on, "Out of everyone in Crystal Tokyo Princess, you've got the best shot at being the woman in the Prince's bed whispering those words. None of us have any connection with Ranma whatsoever and he'll probably be on guard with us. You, you on the other hand have his friendship and that with the proper coaching can be ignited into a burning passion. I've already talked with the other Scouts and the advisers about this idea. Even though some of them have their reservations, they agree that this is the best plan we have for Crystal Tokyo's survival."

Inside of Usa her emotions warred with each other over what Minako was suggesting. While Usa was willing to admit to herself that she found Ranma to be rather attractive, she didn't like the idea of pulling a Cleopatra. On the other hand, Usa had never known Minako to lie about the state of the kingdom and if things were as bad as she claimed then things really were that bad. Usa eventually decided to accept Minako's lessons after Minako promised that she wouldn't bring in 'helpers' for the lessons. However, even though Usa agreed to the lessons, she never said that she would put them into use.

* * *

Back in the 20th century an emergency meeting was being held at Rei's shrine. As soon as all of the Scouts and Mamoru got to the shrine Usagi frantically said, "Chibiusa's missing everyone! She didn't show up for dinner, didn't leave a note, or call." Naturally everyone started to worry about what could have happened to Chibiusa. The pink haired girl had even grown on Haruka and Michiru.

Just as the volume level reached its peek, Setsuna popped into the room and whistled. Everyone else stopped talking in mid sentence and turned to look at their mysterious companion. Setsuna then sat down and calmly said, "I take it by the noise level that you've discovered that Chibiusa is gone."

Usagi immediately interrupted the oldest Scout and said, "Where is she? Has she been captured? Is she alright?" Even though Usagi often complained about 'The Spore' being around she really cared for the girl.

Setsuna sighed and replied, "Don't worry Chibiusa is perfectly fine. As I was trying to say, Chibiusa isn't in this time period anymore. She was called back to Crystal Tokyo for a while because of something that has come up. The new Prince of Nemesis has been found." After everyone had blurted out their surprise Setsuna continued on. "It turned out that Saphir had a son that no one was aware of because he hid the young man in this time period. By the way you've all met him."

Ami was the first to get what Setsuna was hinting at and said, "The Black Prince. It all makes sense now. Those droids weren't similar to the Black Moon Clan's droids because of them learning about the droids from someone in the past. They were so similar because a member of the Clan was making them."

Haruka jumped in and added her two cents. "Why did you tell us not to attack the Black Prince? If he's from the Black Moon Clan then couldn't he be preparing to attack us?"

Setsuna shook her head and calmly said, "We don't have to worry about an attack from Nemesis. The new Prince doesn't seem to be interested in fighting right now. Even if he does attack Crystal Tokyo we don't have to worry about being attack. Only Crystal Tokyo has the ability to travel through time and this new prince is two honorable to attack us. After all, we're not a part of Crystal Tokyo so attacking us would the same as attacking two different countries."

There was a moment of silence as everyone processed what Setsuna told them. Mamoru broke the silence by saying, "So the bad news is we've lost two helpers in our fight against the Death Busters. I guess that means the good news is the fact that we don't have another enemy to fight. Good thing that New Moon is in three days."

Usagi blinked her eyes and asked as she snuggled next to Mamoru, "Why is it a good thing that the New Moon is in three days Mamochan?"

Mamoru looked down at Usagi and said, "It's simple Usako. Recently I've learned of a magical ritual that will allow me to regain my memories." Mamoru's voice then got somber as he continued on. "I have the power to beat any Scout except for you one on one. However, because of my fragmentary memory I can't use most of my power. As long as my memories are gone I'll always be an annoyance to our enemies. This ritual will allow me to really help you out. The only catch with the ritual is that it can only be preformed on the first day of the New Moon. I don't want to see you in danger if there's anything I can do to help protect you."

This earned Mamoru a kiss from Usagi and a round of sighs from most of the Scouts. Haruka was the only person at the meeting who wasn't in a content mood and muttered under her breath about Mamoru finally being useful. Naturally Michiru responded by elbowing Haruka in the ribs. Even if Michiru was a lesbian she still enjoyed a good traditional romance story. Besides, it was rude of Haruka to insult the Prince of Earth even if he wasn't their princess's love.

Setsuna stood up, looked at Mamoru, and politely said, "I wish you luck Mamoru. Having Endymion at Sailor Moon's side rather then Tuxedo Mask be a real big help. My counterpart in Crystal Tokyo has promised to reveal the location of the talismans by the end of the week. She also mentioned that we might get some reinforcements from Crystal Tokyo as well, but that we shouldn't count on it. Princess, remember to have Luna make your parents think that Chibiusa had gone back home for now. We don't want any loose ends causing extra problems."

With that said Setsuna calmly walked out the door. Now that the emergency was over the meeting pretty much ended, but no one else left just then. For the next half hour or so everyone hung out and then people slowly started to leave one by one.


	10. Chapter 10

When many people think of inheriting a magical kingdom, they almost inevitably picture being in grand parades, attending lavish banquets, and regally sitting on an awe inspiring throne. As is usually the case, reality is very different from fantasy. The majority of Ranma's work day was spent behind a desk in his office. If Ranma wasn't in a meeting with one of his Secretaries or one of the Senators, then he either was making decisions about bills or he was researching the facts behind a bill.

Nemesis had a diverse political history because of the former nationalities of its first colonists. Thus Nemesis's government was a rather unique system. Ranma was the Prince of Nemesis and thus he had supreme control over Nemesis's foreign relations. He also held executive authority on all domestic matters which included a royal veto which could only be overridden by a ¾ vote of the Senate. As the Chancellor, Seto was the number 2 man in power. That meant that Seto kept the Senate in order did whatever tasks Ranma gave him, and would sub for Ranma if the Prince was ever incapacitated.

Over all Ranma was shaping up into a decent Prince even though there were still a lot of facets about the Nemesian government that confused him. Ranma was up and in the office at 0700 hours every day working. Back when Ranma first saw his office and the paperwork that was stacked up he had been extremely nervous. Now that Ranma had been working for a few days the job wasn't as daunting as it used to be.

However, this didn't mean that Ranma let his power go to his head. Ranma's memories of Genma and how it felt whenever Genma did something that affected him without telling him were forever burned into the Prince's mind. There was no way that Ranma would ever allow his subjects to view him in that light. To insure that his subjects didn't seem him in that light Ranma had adopted a strict hands' off policy in domestic affairs. As long as the citizens paid their taxes and didn't bother their neighbors Ranma wasn't going to bother them.

At about 1030 hours Ranma finally finish all the paperwork in his to do box. The Prince was just about to pull out a textbook on mid-level magic when his door rang. Ranma let out a small sigh as he put the book down and said, "Come in." Knowing his luck Ranma figured it was probably one of the office gofers carrying more paperwork for him to go over. Instead of the office gopher, Teletha walked into Ranma's office and stood in front of his desk. Ranma looked at Teletha and said, "What can I do for you Tessa?"

Teletha started to play with the end of her ponytail and she softly said, "Ranma I have something to report about your mage power armor." The petit secretary was a little uncomfortable with the informality that her Prince insisted on, but she didn't let that interfere with her duties. After Ranma gave Teletha a 'tell me more' look she said, "The principle behind your 'Black Prince' armor is revolutionary. While most of the data is still being analyzed by my magologists, there are some principles behind the armor that we can use now."

Ranma politely interrupted Teletha and said, "I don't need the details right now Tessa. Just tell me what the end result is."

After Teletha blinked her eyes and checked her notes she said, "The end result Ranma is that we can revive several military projects that were canceled do to technomagical restrictions of the time. Most prominent of these projects is Project G. That project is concerned with creating a large scale multifunctional bipedal weapons platform." Teletha caught the look in Ranma's eye and quickly added, "It's a 'Mech' or a fighting robot."

Now that Ranma knew what Teletha was talking about he said, "Okay Tessa. If you want you can revive Project G. I'll tell Tamahome to authorize a grant to fund the project. Don't worry; I'll make sure he understands that the grant has to be large enough so that you can complete the project." After hearing that Ranma would take care of things Teletha politely left Ranma's office pleased that she wouldn't have to deal with Tamahome.

The Secretary of Finance was infamous throughout Nemesis for his penny pinching ways. Many of the senators were unhappy with the fact that Ranma had kept Tamahome in the cabinet as they were hoping to see the man go. However, Ranma had been decided to keep Tamahome on staff for a very good reason. The man insured that Nemesis didn't have a national debt and that was one bragging right that Ranma wasn't about to let slip through his fingers; especially when Crystal Tokyo was spending money like drunken sailors.

About the only real problem with Tamahome as the Secretary of Finance that Ranma could see was the occasional report that Seto sent him about how some senators were whispering nepotism. Initially Ranma had been confused by Seto's report since Tamahome wasn't a member of the Black Moon Clan. Luckily a quick search of genetic records on his office computer had explained everything. Tamahome was related to Ranma, but the relationship was about 9 generations back. It turned out that Tamahome's ancestor was Nabiki's oldest son. Ranma still hadn't sorted out how he felt about the fact that Kasumi was his great-something-grandmother.

In the end the fact that Tamahome was distantly related to Ranma didn't really matter. The connection was so far back that no one really considered the two related. Besides, it was the senators from New Hollywood and New Washington who were whispering those claims. Everyone just knew that those cities existed in an entirely different universe by themselves. Although it did leave Ranma wanting to know one thing: why did his branch have the Eclipse while the other branches of the Tendo or the Ono families didn't have the sigil.

* * *

"Achoo, I wonder whose talking about me," Kasumi said as she rubbed her nose. The eldest Tendo sister was standing just outside of Zenpukuji temple in Juuban as she rubbed her nose. Ever since Ranma's heritage came out two weeks ago things had changed in Nerima. However, the changes were rather superficial compared to the big splashes Ranma's leaving had caused. Kuno no longer considered Ranma to be a foul sorcerer and was now claiming that Ranma had traveled into the past to test Kuno so that the delusional kendoist's love for the fierce tiger Akane could be proven. There was a rumor at the high school that Akane was in a relationship with Nabiki. Basically, it added a new dimension to the regular insanity.

Out of everyone who knew about Ranma's true heritage, Kasumi was the most affected. How could she not be since he was her descendant? That's was why Kasumi was so far from home. She was visiting different shrines and temples trying to something to help her handle this fact. So far Kasumi hadn't had any luck finding someone or something to help her. Kasumi pulled out a small piece of paper and crossed the Zenpukuji temple's name off and said to herself, "That one's out. It looks like the next shrine on the list is the Hikawa Shrine."

As Kasumi walked towards the Hikawa Shrine she wondered for the umpteenth time why anyone would want to know about the future. In her opinion, knowing what could be was a major pain. The that she was going to/had a child whose line would found/had found a country was driving Kasumi nuts. By this point Kasumi was really starting to doubt that she'd ever be able to settle how she felt about this situation. After all, it wasn't like there were other people there who met their offspring before said offspring are born.

Kasumi's melancholy mood was interrupted when she heard the sound of someone hitting the ground. The eldest Tendo sister quickly spotted the girl that had fallen on the sidewalk thanks to her honed instincts and senses from being the NWC's unofficial nurse. Kasumi quickly glided over to the downed girl and quickly checked to make sure the girl was alright. After Kasumi was sure that there wasn't any serious injuries she asked, "Are you alright?"

Usagi instinctively looked up when she heard Kasumi's voice. There was just something in Kasumi's voice that Usagi couldn't help but obey. As Usagi got back to her feet she said, "I'm fine, I just tripped that's all." Once Usagi was back on her feet she noticed that her locket was gone and cried out, "Oh No! Where is it? Where's my locket?"

As Usagi was panicking about her missing locket Kasumi noticed something shiny from the corner of her eye. Kasumi reached down and picked up a golden five star locket from the bushes. Once the locket was out of the bush it opened revealing the Ginzushou. Usagi was completely shell-shocked since she was the only person who was supposed to be able to open the locket. Kasumi didn't notice the look on Usagi's face and she simply closed the locket back up. She then handed the locket back to Usagi and said, "Please be more careful with this. That gem's too priceless to be lost because of carelessness."

Just when Usagi thought that things couldn't get any stranger she saw the sigil of the Moon faintly appeared on Kasumi's forehead. Usagi could barely believe it. The sigil on Kasumi's forehead was very dim compared to the one that appeared on Usagi's or Chibiusa's foreheads when they were in princess mode, but was the same sigil. But it made absolutely no sense! The only people who should have the sigil were her and Chibiusa.

With the sigil on Kasumi's forehead refusing to go away, Usagi tried to decide what she should do. The only thing that Usagi could think of was that she needed to have Ami scan Kasumi. Hopefully the Mercury computer could figure out what was going on. Since Ami was waiting at the shrine Usagi said, "My name's Usagi Tsukino. Thank you for helping me. What's your name?"

Kasumi smiled and said, "My name is Kasumi Tendo and your welcome. If it's not too much trouble, do you know the way to the Hikawa Shrine?"

Usagi smiled when she heard that Kasumi was heading towards Rei's shrine since that made things so easier. In her usual chipper voice Usagi replied, "I'm heading over there myself. One of my friends is the shrine maiden there and I was going to visit her. Come, I'll show you the way to the shrine." Kasumi was carried away by Usagi's usual charm and quickly decided to follow her.

During the ten minute walk to the shrine Usagi kept Kasumi busy talking. While the two were talking Usagi was discreetly checking Kasumi's forehead to observe the sigil. Despite Usagi's expectations, the sigil didn't fade away. In fact, the sigil seemed to be getting slowly brighter. At least it would make it easier to convince Ami to scan Kasumi. When they got to the shrine Usagi turned to Kasumi and said, "Why don't you wait here and I'll go get Rei so she can show you around?"

After Kasumi agreed to wait Usagi ran up to the shrine and hurriedly told the Inners about Kasumi. Actually, she told Rei that there was someone outside who wanted to visit the shrine. When Usagi got over to the room where the rest of the Inners were waiting for her she walked over to Rei and said, "Rei, there's a lady outside who wants to look at the shrine. Why don't you go show her around? The meeting can wait for a little bit."

Rei really wanted to insist upon the meeting, but she never voiced it. There was just something in Usagi's eyes that made Rei not want to argue with her. Besides, if her grandfather found out that she had left a visitor waiting he'd probably read her the riot act. The man may be a bit of a pervert, but the old priest took his responsibilities seriously and insisted that Rei do the same. So Rei left with a little bit of customary grumbling for show and a warning to Usagi to not read her manga.

Once Rei was out of the room, Usagi walked over to Ami and said, "Ami please scan the guest that Rei's showing around the shrine. I saw the symbol for the royal family on her head." Naturally Ami was shocked and a little skeptical about Usagi's claim, but she agreed to do the scan anyway.

Suddenly Ami cried out while still looking at her monitor and startling everyone in the room, "It's the Queen!"

* * *

The Crystal Palace was set up so that the royal family and the Scouts all had their own private outdoor areas. Currently Usa and Minako were in Minako's private garden sunbathing in the nude. While Minako was calmly sipping a Pina colada and watching home videos on her portable TV, Usa was scrunched up on her lawn chair sporting a full body blush. It was just so embarrassing in Usa's mind to be doing this.

Minako glance over at Usa and slapped the princess on the shoulder. In a commanding voice the warrior of love said, "Stop covering your body Usa! Put your hands at your sides so that your nipples are exposed and spread your legs just a little bit. We can work on the innocent look later. Right now you need to learn to be able to show off your body without showing any signs of embarrassment. And start paying attention to the screen while you're at it. I'm giving you a quiz on positions after this is over."

As Usa reluctantly did as Minako instructed she wondered how by the Goddess she had let Minako talk her into this. It was bad enough that Minako had her nude sun bathing, but did she have to add in the videos as well? Seriously, who wants to watch homemade porn with their aunt as the star? Unfortunately for Usa, that was exactly what she had to do for the next hour.

Once the hour was over Minako mercifully allowed Usa to get dressed and return to her quarters. However, before Usa left Minako's room Minako called out, "Don't forget Usa. Wednesday we go over oils and massage techniques." It took all of Usa's willpower to not break out in a nuclear blush as she hurried out of Minako's quarters and raced over to her own. As soon as Usa got to her room she locked the door and dove onto her bed.

Usa just didn't know what to make of 'Operation Cleopatra' as she mentally dubbed seducing Ranma. The analytical part of the princess's mind could understand why the Scouts had come up with this plan. However, Usa's heart just wasn't into the plan. It wasn't the idea of bedding Ranma that was Usa's problem. Actually, the raven haired prince had been featuring quite prominently in Usa's dreams, particularly the more risqué dreams.

The problem Usa had with 'Operation Cleopatra' was because of who she was. Like her mother Usa wanted to have a boyfriend. In Usa's opinion Ranma was definitely her first pick to be a boyfriend, but Minako's plan seemed to be ruining things for the princess. How could she have an honest relationship with a man she respected if she was basically whoring herself out to him?

At this moment Usa reached under her mattress and pulled out a small instant photograph and looked at it. The photograph was a picture of Ranko and Chibiusa smiling with ice cream cones in their hands and ice cream smears over their faces. Even though both people in the photo were masks, Usa couldn't help smiling. Ranma had been her friend, not the daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity's friend, but Usa's friend. Usa looked out her window to where she knew Nemesis was in the sky and softly said, "I wish I could talk to you Ranma. Why can't things be simpler?"

* * *

Rei was thanking her ancestors that she hadn't freaked out as soon as she met Kasumi. What was meatball head thinking not telling her about the fact that Kasumi had the sigil for the royal family on her head? If it wasn't for the fact that Rei didn't want to look like an idiot and be extremely rude to Kasumi, she would have dragged the older woman inside to demand an explanation. Luckily, Rei was able to politely convince Kasumi to inside. As soon as both of them were inside where the other Scouts were waiting Rei called out, "Usagi! Would you care to explain why Kasumi has the mark of lunar royalty on her forehead?"

Immediately after Rei said this everyone turned to look at Kasumi and at the same time Kasumi said, "Uh Rei? What do you mean about me have the mark of lunar royalty?" Rei quickly pulled out her compact and opened it so that Kasumi could see her reflection. When Kasumi saw the golden crescent moon on her forehead she stuttered out, "What? How can I have this mark? I don't go on the crazy adventures like everyone else!"

Before anyone could ask Kasumi what she meant by crazy adventures Ami said, "There's a good reason why you have that sigil. I ran a scan on your soul after Usagi informed me about you having that mark. After several other scans to confirm the data came back positive as well I've found why Kasumi has the sign of the lunar royal house. She's Queen Serenity's reincarnation."

Since all the other Inners except for Rei had heard Ami's previous outburst all they did was look at Kasumi as if they were trying to see Queen Serenity in Kasumi. On the other hand, Rei looked at Kasumi in total shock with her mouth hanging open. After being stared at for a few seconds, Kasumi started to get nervous and she said, "Who is this Queen Serenity?"

At this point Luna crawled out from under the table, hopped onto the table, and started to explain things. "Hello there; my name is Luna. Right now I'm sure that you're feeling very confused about what everyone is talking about. My dear, Queen Serenity is you. Or rather, Queen Serenity is who you were in a previous life. Everyone in this room, including you, lived in the past in a kingdom that existed before record history. The young women you see before you were sent into the future to be reborn by your past life. We never imagined that your soul would have been reborn in this era as well."

It was said throughout Nerima that Kasumi could handle any kind of craziness that might occur and come out smiling like everything was normal. However, what most citizens of Nerima forgot to consider was that Kasumi usually wasn't at the focal point of the craziness. Do to the preexisting stress from finding out about Ranma, Kasumi started to back up and called out, "No way! There's absolutely no way that I'm the reincarnation of Queen Serenity of the Silver Millennium!"

Luna looked at Kasumi and said in a motherly voice, "I never told you the name of the kingdom that Queen Serenity ruled over. None of us told you the name. How could you know the name then if you weren't the reincarnation of the Queen like we said you were?"

Once Kasumi realized what she had said and the truth about Luna's words she fell on her knees and started crying. Through the sobs Kasumi said, "Why is this happening to me? Akane's the one in the family that's supposed to deal with these situations not me! I'm just supposed to help calm her down and get her through the craziness. First I find out about Ranma's heritage, and now this. What's next, a mystical family blood feud?"

Usagi quickly walked over and wrapped her arms around Kasumi. Even though the current situation was freaking Usagi out, she wanted to comfort her new friend/previous lifetime's mother. Part of it was simply because Usagi was a very loving and caring girl. Another reason why Usagi did this was because she remembered how she felt when her identity as the Moon Princess was discovered. At least in Usagi's case she had the small buffer of already knowing that she was from the past because she was Sailor Moon.

After Kasumi managed to stop crying, the newly discovered queen moved to the couch and sat down. She then looked the Scouts and instinctively knew which Scout each girl was. When Kasumi looked at Usagi she was confused for a moment by the intense sensation of love that she felt. This confusion cleared up when a realization occurred and Kasumi whispered out, "You. You're my daughter Serenity."

Makoto confirmed it by saying, "Yes Kasumi. Usagi is Princess Serenity's reincarnation. I guess in a way that does make her your daughter since you're the reincarnation of Queen Serenity."

To the Scouts' surprise, Kasumi rolled her eyes and said, "Thanks Ranma. I guess since you're back in the 30th century I'm the one stuck with all the crazy luck. Kami and ancestors I'm begging you, please let the multiple romance and crazy rival curse be picked up further down the family tree."

Usagi blinked her eyes and said, "Uh Kasumi? Mother? What are you talking about?" The other Scouts were also starting to get a little confused as well. They didn't remember anyone named Ranma when they visited the 30th century.

Kasumi looked at Usagi and sighed. Then in her usual calm tone the newly discovered queen said, "I guess since your family you should know. A lady named Setsuna Meioh came by my family's house a little over two weeks ago. She was working for a country in the 30th century called 'Crystal Tokyo' trying to track down a friend of the family whose name is Ranma. It turns out that Ranma's actually the heir of another country in that time known as 'Nemesis'. Also, according to Setsuna I'm supposed to be Ranma's great-great-something-grandmother." By the time all of the shouts of shock and surprise regarding that announcement were over, Kasumi was wondering if she'd ever regain her hearing.

* * *

Ranma was sitting at his desk enjoying one of his rare breaks during the work day when Releena walked in. The Secretary of Foreign Matters approached Ranma and pulled out a small envelope. Releena waited for Ranma to acknowledge her and then she said, "This was left under the welcome mat for you." Under the welcome mat was a code phrase that the foreign department used for unofficial communications from Crystal Tokyo. Officially, Crystal Tokyo and Nemesis did not have diplomatic relations so any official correspondence had to be routed through a third party.

After Ranma accepted the letter he replied, "Thank you Releena." Ranma quickly dismissed Releena with a wave of his hand and a pleasant smile. Once Releena left the office, Ranma pressed a hidden button under his desk that locked the door and ordered the security cameras to falsify the record in his room. It was a standard practice for whenever highly confidential documents were handled. Ranma then opened the letter and began to read:

Dear Ranma Tohno,

Hi there it's me Usa! How are you handling being Prince? I'm sure that things are as annoying for you with the Nemesian Senate as things are for me with the Crystal Tokyo bureaucracy.

Look I'm probably going to get in trouble for saying this, but here goes. A lot of power and influential people over here are really nervous about you ascending to the Iron Throne. Now you've probably figured that a lot of my people would be nervous about you considering what your uncle did. However, here's the hushed up part that many of the movers and shakers in the Crystal Court don't want you to know. There's a plot to have you seduced so you won't attack us and I've been volunteered by these politicos to be your bed warmer.

In all honesty Ranma, the idea of bedding you isn't too bad. You're a handsome young man who has a great personality and a loving heart. And also, you're the best choice I have for a husband this side of the galactic core. However, I refuse to be pimped out to you because the Scouts of this era are afraid to you. Not only do I hate the idea of being used as a pawn in a power game, but I can feel it in my heart that such a plan would completely backfire.

By now I'm sure you're wondering why my parents don't stop this plan. Truth is my parents have very little de facto power in most things because of neglect and handing it over to courtiers and bureaucrats. Sure they could put a stop to this thanks to their legal positions, the Ginzushou, and the populous. However, neither of my parents is particularly suited to being an absolute monarch and they prefer to act more like figureheads.

There are many more things about this situation that I want to talk to you about Ranma. However, a letter is not the proper place to be talking about these things. We can sort these things out in a face to face meeting between the two of us. Sailor Pluto is loyal to me. She can discreetly send us back into past where we can met privately. I'm sure that any agreement we could make would be mutually beneficial; especially for Nemesis and your little supply problem. If you agree to this meeting, send me a copy of Plutarch's Life of Julius Caesar via the planet Kinmoku. If you don't agree, send me a copy of Plutarch's Life of Pyrrhus in the same manner.

Your friend,

Usa

Ranma was both elated and worried about Usa's letter. The fact that there was a plot to put her in his bed and she wouldn't mind bedding him was a little disturbing. However, the fact that she didn't want to bed him because of a palace plot and apparently wanted to date him put Usa back in the black. Besides, Ranma knew that eventually he'd have to take some woman into his bed so that he could have an heir. There already was a kilometer high pile in the palace's post office that contained nothing but marriage proposals.

While Ranma was a little leery about the sexual aspect of the letter, it was the mention of problems in Crystal Tokyo, the whispers of mutually beneficial deals, and the remark about Nemesis's supply problems that set off the danger bells in Ranma's head. Usa's letter was vague enough that almost any conclusion could be drawn from it. Thus, Ranma knew that he would have to think about this very carefully. Her offer was potentially too valuable to ignore.

Nemesis, and its Oort cloud farming stations, had one major problem: the territory was poor in natural metals. While transmuting elements into metals was possible, the process took a long time and was extremely exhaustive for the mages doing it. Also, transmutation did not provide enough of the various metals to meet the demands of the Nemesian population. Traditionally, Nemesis handled this problem by selling its bountiful crops to other systems and importing the needed metals.

Unfortunately, Prince Demand had managed over his reign to annoy most of Nemesis's trading partners. That was not good because they could find new sources of foodstuffs a lot easier then Nemesis could find new sources of metals. Despite Seto's best efforts, the monthly trade amount of metals had fallen below the monthly usage of metals. Ranma had been trying to get Nemesis's former trade partners that had stopped trading lift their embargos. However, it seemed that most of those worlds weren't that interested in resuming trade just yet.

For the next hour Ranma would read Usa's letter, think about what it said, and then reread it again. No matter how hard Ranma tried, he couldn't find a clue to what exactly Usa was hinting at. Finally Ranma closed his eyes and whispered, "I hope that I don't wake a sleeping giant."


	11. Chapter 11

Mamoru was walking down the sidewalk carrying a bag of groceries that he had just bought from the corner grocer. Usually Mamoru went to the grocery store on weekends and just did one big run. However, this was a special case. These groceries were for a special dinner Mamoru was planning to cook for him and Usagi. Considering how crazy the past week had been, the reborn Prince of Earth figured that a nice, quite dinner date was in order.

Sadly for Mamoru, the Death Busters had a different idea. A small group of daemons suddenly crashed through the windows of a nearby store and landed in the street. Naturally, everyone near the daemons started panicking and running for their lives. Mamoru reacted on instinct and he ducked into a secluded area while stuffing his groceries in his mystical storage space. Once Mamoru was sure that no one was able to observe him, he transformed.

Unlike the Silver Millennium, the old Earth Kingdom valued practicality. Thanks to this mental outlook, Mamoru was able to transform into Prince Endymion in a fraction of the time that it took any of the Scouts to transform. Prince Endymion immediately charged out his hiding spot and scanned the battlefield. There were five daemons and he was the only person available to fight them; definitely not good odds for the home team, but Endymion wasn't about to throw in the towel.

Endymion's opening move was raising his left hand into the air and shouting out, "Aether!" The prince's cape immediately started billowing as if in the wind for a few seconds and then Endymion rose into the sky. As soon as Endymion was in the air the daemons launched their attacks. Luckily for Endymion his 'Aether' spell made him extremely maneuverable in the air. Thanks to this maneuverability, Endymion was able to doge the barrage of incoming attacks.

After Endymion had avoided the last attack, he raised his hand again and shouted out, "Hemera!" As soon as the spell's name left Endymion's lips, his body let out a blinding flash of light. Unfortunately for the daemons, they had been created with extremely sensitive senses. While the daemons were lying on the ground writhing in agony, Endymion drew his sword and dove towards one of the daemons. The daemon's suffering ended when Endymion impaled his sword on the daemon's head.

Usually the Scouts and, as much as Endymion didn't like to admit, Tuxedo Mask would have let the daemons regroup before attacking again. However, Endymion had been extensively trained in military matters and he knew better. The warrior prince stretched out both of his hands so they were pointing at two more daemons and he yelled out, "Duo Steropes!" Two large bolts of lighting flew out of Endymion's outstretched hands and blew up two more daemons as they started to stand up.

Now things were starting to look up for Endymion. Thanks to his blitzkrieg assault, Endymion had managed to reduce the odds down to a more manageable level. Of course, the daemons weren't about to just roll over and die. The second round of the battle was a much more dangerous affair as the daemons used every trick they knew of to try and kill Endymion. As Endymion barely avoided a twin assault he tried to figure out how to win. It wasn't like Endymion could just steamroll the remaining two daemons; those opening attacks had been a massive drain on his magical reserves.

Luckily for the prince, he knew all of the tricks that the daemons knew. This meant that Endymion was able to control the battle thanks to his superior intellect. About 4 minutes after the battle started, Endymion maneuvered himself so that he was between the two daemons. Once he was in place, the prince quickly sheathed his sword and gave both daemons the finger. Either the daemons were aware of obscene gestures, or they figured that they had a clear shot because both of them attacked Endymion. The prince rolled to the side just as the two attacks were about to hit him, which resulted in a double K.O. for the remaining daemons.

As soon as Endymion got to his feet he started to look around trying to find any sign of a victim. Much to Endymion's dismay, he wasn't able to find any sign that someone had lost their heart crystal. While Usagi would have been happy to hear that news, Endymion was troubled. There were only three possible explanations for the lack of a victim. Either the intended victim had managed to escape the Death Buster, this attack was a diversion so that the Death Busters could get their real target, or this attack had been stage just to test the Scouts.

Out of all the possible options, Endymion feared the possibility that this was merely a test. He didn't really consider the first possibility since the Death Busters had repeatedly proven that they could snatch a person's heart crystal when they set their minds to it. With the second possibility there was a strong chance that the Scouts would intercept the Death Buster behind the attack. However, if this attack had really been about collecting information, then the Death Busters had won a big tactical victory.

Eventually, Endymion decided that it wasn't worth worrying about now. Whatever the purpose of this attack was, it could be determined latter. Right now Prince Endymion was a little too conspicuous. So using his finely honed skills, Endymion quickly left the battle site and found a place to transform back into Mamoru. Once the transformation was over, Mamoru headed back to his apartment like nothing had happened.

* * *

Usa was in her room packing her suitcase. After placing one of her shirts into the suitcase, Usa turned towards her desk. On her desk was a brand new copy of Plutarch's Life of Julius Caesar. Whenever Usa looked at that book she felt as if it was taunting her; reminding her about what she was planning to do. Usa continued to gaze at the book for a few minutes and then she shut her eyes. The princess then firmly told herself, "Get over it. You knew what you were doing when you sent that letter."

After saying that, Usa forced herself to return to packing her suitcase. It had been all too easy for her to leave the palace. Neo-Queen Serenity had instantly given Usa permission to leave for a week or so to tour some of the less important provinces to life up the public's spirit. Minako was a little harder to convince to let Usa leave the palace without a set of guards, but Usa knew what buttons to press. All she had to do was hint that she was planning on discreetly practicing her flirting skills to catch Ranma and Minako let the matter drop.

Once Usa had finished packing her stuff, she felt Setsuna walk towards her room's door. For a second, Usa wanted to holler at Setsuna to come in. However, Usa bit her cheek and waited for Setsuna to ring the doorbell before responding. Being able to sense familiar people with strong magic was not something to be shared. It was just too useful of a tool to let it be known that she had it. After Setsuna walked into the room, she silently leaned against the wall.

The room was silent for a few minutes and then Setsuna said, "Are you willing to do this Usa? Do you have the mental strength to see what you're planning on doing through to the end? Because if you're not, don't do it. Once Ranma agrees to this plan of yours there's no going back."

Usa sighed and quietly said, "What choice do I have Setsuna? Even without the Time Gates you can see the situation here. If I don't do this, what chance does Crystal Tokyo honestly have? Be honest with me Setsuna and don't give me that line about protecting the sanctity of the timeline. I'm not asking where my plan will work or not, I just want to know what's most likely to happen if I don't go through with this."

Setsuna seemed to wrestle with a dilemma for moment before she sighed and answered Usa in a resigned manner. "Things don't look good for Crystal Tokyo if things stay the way they are. Your plan has the possibility of truly restoring the former grandeur of the Silver Millennium back to this system. It may even lead to the Solar system eventually becoming even greater then it has ever been. However, your plan could also lead to the eventual collapse of civilization in this system. A collapse, I might add, that won't nearly be as easy to get over as the fall of the Silver Millennium was."

For a second Usa seemed frozen in shock, but then she gave a small chuckle. While Usa was shaking her head she said, "Stagnation and a likely slow death or a quick and violent destruction with only a minimal chance of bringing humanity to untold glory? This is Earth, not Arrakis. I understand what you are saying Setsuna, but I must do this. If I fail then I will at least go to the afterlife knowing that I tried to do the best that I could for my people."

The room became quiet again as neither one of them had anything more to say. A few minutes latter Usa finished packing her suitcase and started walking towards the door. Just after Usa walked out of the door, but before Setsuna walked out as well, the warrior of time quietly said, "I hope you succeed Usa. Even though I hate myself for agreeing to this plan of yours, I pray for its success."

* * *

While Usa and Setsuna were traveling into the past, all of the reincarnated members of the Silver Millennium and Mamoru were gathered at the Hikawa Shrine for a special meeting. It had been about two weeks since Kasumi had been discovered, but this was the first chance that everyone had to meet. Once everyone was sitting down Setsuna said, "I've just received word from my Crystal Tokyo counterpart. She's informed me of the location of the talismans."

Haruka looked over at Setsuna and said, "So where are they? You've been having us hold on finding those talismans for weeks now so tell us."

Setsuna quickly sent a withering glare at Haruka. Once the hot headed Scout had been sufficiently cowed Setsuna said, "You're carrying the talismans. Michiru has the Neptune Mirror hidden in her heart crystal and Haruka has the Space Sword hidden in hers."

Ami jumped in and said, "How does that help us Setsuna? I mean, we don't have the ability to extract a person's heart crystal. And even if we did have the ability, what possible good would the talismans be if two of our teammates were killed in retrieving them? Wouldn't it be better for us to just leave the talismans where they are so that the Death Busters don't get their hands on them?"

Suddenly Kasumi put her hand on her head as if she had a headache. Minako and Makoto quickly turned to try and help Kasumi even though they figured there wasn't much they could do. However, Kasumi waved them off and said, "Sorry everyone. I just had a memory flash." Kasumi then turned to Ami as she said, "You're wrong Ami. There's a way to retrieve the talismans without endangering Haruka or Michiru."

The reincarnated queen then turned to look at Usagi and she softly said, "Would you please hand me the Ginzushou Usagi? It's needed to retrieve the talismans and sadly you don't have the skill to cast a spell of this kind of nature just yet."

Usagi wanted to pout about having to hand the Ginzushou over, even if it was just temporarily to Kasumi. The Ginzushou was her responsibility and being told that she wasn't suited to using it, well that was a major blow to Usagi. After all, she had successfully used it to beat Beryl and Metallia so why couldn't she use it now? However, the more mature part of Usagi knew that Kasumi wouldn't have asked for the Ginzushou without a very good reason. So with just a momentary hesitation, Usagi pulled out her locket and handed it over to Kasumi.

Once the locket was in Kasumi's hand she smiled at Usagi and said, "Thank you. Now carefully watch what I do so that if you need to do something like this in the future you can Usagi." With that said Kasumi magically summoned the Ginzushou out of the locket. Then Kasumi cupped her hands under the floating sacred stone and closed her eyes. Next, Kasumi's clothes changed from her typical modest dress into the royal dress that everyone remembered Queen Serenity wearing.

Now that Kasumi was in her royal regalia, she turned to face Michiru and Haruka. Before Kasumi did anything she politely said, "Don't worry you won't feel a thing." With that said two small silvery beams of light shot out of the Ginzushou and hit both Scouts in the chest. Michiru and Haruka started to glow and all anyone could see of the duo was the silvery outlines of their bodies.

Everyone was shocked when the glow dimmed down enough so that they could see the two Outers again because the Outers were currently in their Scout form holding their talismans. Setsuna then decided to transform into Sailor Pluto. Once Setsuna had finished her transformation, she summoned the time staff and removed the Garnet Orb form the staff. As soon as all three talismans were free, a series of golden lines shot out of the talismans creating a golden triangular pyramid. Then the Holy Grail formed at the apex of the pyramid.

As the Scouts gazed on the Holy Grail, something unexpected happened. The Holy Grail let off a silvery glow and then it shot towards Usagi's locket like a silvery comet. There was a blinding flash when the Grail and the locket touched each other forcing everyone to look away. When the Scouts could look again they were shocked to see that both the locket and the Grail were gone. In the items' place was a small wand that was just a little bigger then the wand Usagi had used to fight the Dark Kingdom.

Usagi looked at the wand and then shouted out, "What's going on? Where's my locket? How will I be able to become Sailor Moon without my locket?"

Makoto quickly replied, "I think that you're supposed to use that wand to transform." Immediately after Makoto said that several of the Scouts shot her questioning looks. When Makoto saw those looks she raised her hands defensively and said, "Hey it's a perfectly reasonable explanation. We all use transformation pens and you've got to admit that a wand is more like a pen then a locket is."

Ami was working on the Mercury computer and quickly backed Makoto up. "Makoto's correct, that wand is Usagi's new transformation device. In fact, if my readings are correct, it's a good thing that Usagi has that wand."

Minako looked at Ami and said, "Why is it a good thing that Usagi has that wand? She could transform and fight just fine before with the locket."

Suddenly Rei's eyes lit up and she said, "Compatibility. The wand is more compatible with Usagi then the locket was."

Ami nodded her head and said, "Rei's correct. Our transformation items act like pathways funneling power into our transformed states. Compared to the rest of us, Usagi was pretty inefficient with how she channeled her power. Part of this was because of the fact that she subconsciously created her first locket for Luna to hand her. Since that locket was made out of instinct it had several flaws in it compared to our transformation pens. Also, the Ginzushou wasn't integrated into the locket very well. The only reason why Usagi was the most effective Scout up to this moment was because of the incredible amount of power she was forcing through the locket."

Usagi looked at Ami and nervously asked, "What does all of this mean Ami?"

The genius Scout gave Usagi a small smile and said, "Well from what I'm seeing everything's great. You'll be at least twice a powerful now with that wand then you were with the locket. However, I'd let Kasumi keep the Ginzushou. The Grail is acting like the Ginzushou used to act and you wouldn't be able to handle both the Grail and the Ginzushou at the same time. Besides, the Ginzushou is in sync with Kasumi more then it is with you."

Haruka quickly added her two cents about the situation. "So the kitten's twice as powerful as she used to be. That will make it easier to defeat the Death Busters. Now all we need to do is find them and pound them into the Stone Age." Although a lot of the Scouts didn't like how Haruka said it, they agreed with her about the next course of action.

* * *

Ranma looked at the menu in his hand and tried to focus on what to eat rather then on his 'date'. When Ranma had agreed to meet with Usa, he didn't know what exactly to expect. However, this was not exactly what he had envisioned. Currently Ranma and Usa were sitting in a booth away from the front door at a small Italian restaurant. Usa had been insistent that any business discussion wait until after they both had a chance to relax and have a little fun.

Eventually Ranma decided to try the chicken parmesan and Usa settled on stuffed manicotti. Once both of them had ordered, Ranma expected Usa to start talking about why she wanted to meet him. Sadly for Ranma's curiosity, Usa refused to talk about why she called the meeting. Instead, she directed the conversation to ordinary subjects that were of no importance.

By the time the waiter return with dinner, Ranma had forgotten about why he was in the past. Usa may not have realized it, but she was giving Ranma the one thing he had wanted for so long: the chance to just be a regular guy. Even though Ranma knew in the back of his mind that it was just an illusion, he couldn't stop himself from pretending that everything was normal. On Nemesis, the responsibility of ruling his people was like a lead coat. At least for the moment, Ranma had the chance to take that coat off.

It wasn't until the duo was about halfway through their meals that Usa decided to talk about why they were meeting. "Ranma, what would you say if Nemesis was to be given access to the planets and the outer moons for mining purposes?"

Usa's question came so unexpectedly that Ranma nearly choked on his previous bite. Luckily, Ranma was able to take care of his problem without causing a big scene. Once Ranma finished taking care of his problem, he looked at Usa and emphatically said, "That, that would be wonderful. I mean, Nemesis could really use the metals." A second latter Ranma narrowed his eyes a bit and said, "What's the catch?"

Even though there was a hint of accusation in Ranma's voice, Usa was thrilled to hear his replay. Ranma had barely been on the throne for a month and he already knew more about ruling then Neo-Queen Serenity seemed to know. Usa looked at Ranma and calmly, although she was barely holding it together inside, said, "The catch is simple. You help me ascend to the Crystal Throne and then you make me your wife."

Ranma couldn't believe that he had just heard Usa say what he thought he had heard her say. In a very nervous manner Ranma said, "Isn't that a little excessive Usa? Surely we don't need to go to those lengths. Couldn't we arraign a lease agreement between our two countries? Or maybe I could buy a few asteroids from Crystal Tokyo."

Usa really wanted to agree to Ranma's ideas. In all honesty she preferred his plans over the one she was proposing. However, Usa slowly, almost hesitantly, shook her head. Ranma could hear the pain in Usa's voice as she replied, "Your plans are wonderful Ranma, but they'd never work. Mother and father have never truly understood what being a ruler means. They prefer to leave most of the actual ruling over to the Scouts. Sadly the Scouts don't really understand how to govern either. Only Venus, Mars, and to a lesser extent Jupiter have any competency in ruling. Sadly those three want to keep things static and they aren't willing to consider something if it didn't occur in the Silver Millennium."

"In their minds Crystal Tokyo is the pinnacle of civilization. They would never accept Crystal Tokyo and Nemesis working together except for Nemesis being annexed into Crystal Tokyo. Even Venus's plan of me seducing you is simply a way for Crystal Tokyo to eventually, peacefully annex Nemesis. Of course, since their memories are so scrambled because of their repeated resurrections, they've romanticized many aspects of the kingdom. That's why out of all the worlds Crystal Tokyo controls; only the Earth is habitable."

After thinking about what he had been told, Ranma asked, "Isn't that what you're proposing? Maybe I'm missing something, but it sounds like you've only added replacing the Scouts to their original plan."

For some indescribable reason, Usa suddenly felt the urge to hit Ranma with a mallet. Once Usa regained her calm she said, "I'm not suggesting that either Crystal Tokyo or Nemesis annex each other Ranma. The two kingdoms are too different to fuse into a single entity. Instead, I want Crystal Tokyo and Nemesis to have a dual monarchy; sort of like the Hapsburgs established between Austria and Hungary before WWI. Both kingdoms would remain separate, but we'd rule them together."

Usa then brushed a few stray hairs away from her face and continued on. "I suppose that I am borrowing Venus's plan a bit. However, you have to admit that an arranged marriage and seducing you are two totally different things; besides the fact that the arranged marriage has a better chance of happening then me seducing you does." Surprisingly Ranma let out a small chuckle.

In a more serious manner Usa said, "I'm hoping on a bloodless coup Ranma. However," and at this point tears started to form in Usa's eyes, I'm worried that a snag may come up and I'll have to kill someone. I love my parents and my aunts. If there was another way to solve the problems Crystal Tokyo is facing, I'd take it in a heartbeat. But both of us know that what we want and what we need to do can be two totally different things."

Usa's voice then became very quiet and she whispered out, "I know that you might be wondering if this is a trap Ranma. If you require it Ranma, I am willing to offer myself up as a pledge of my sincerity."

Ranma was shocked that Usa was willing to offer herself up a pledge. Such things were rarely given out since any infraction on the agreement would result in the pledge being handed over to the person wronged by the broken contract. If Usa offered herself up as a pledge she would have to see the coup through to the end or she would be transformed into his slave. There wouldn't be anything that Ranma could do to free Usa if that happened because it would be her magic that would be bounding her to him.

Very quickly Ranma said, "There's no need to go that far Usa. I don't need any pledge from you to trust you." As soon as Ranma said that Usa let out a sigh of relief showing that she really hadn't wanted to offer a pledge. Ranma then continued on saying, "Can you give me a few days to think about this Usa? I don't want to commit Nemesis to such a drastic plan without thinking about everything."

In a much more relieved manner Usa said, "Take all the time you need Ranma. This is a major decision after all. We have until the end of the week for you to make up your mind; even if it's just to table this decision until you can gather more information."

* * *

Cologne was walking down the street towards the train station when she spotted a young man sitting on a nearby bench looking very depressed. Normally Cologne would have left the teen alone, but something about him seemed to call to her. It was as if she needed to talk to him and help him sort out his problem. If Cologne had learned anything in her 300 year life, it was to always trust her instincts. So without further adieu, Cologne walked over the bench and said, "What's the matter young man?"

To Cologne's complete surprise the young man questioningly asked, "Old Ghoul? Is that you?" Ranma then looked at the astonished Cologne and said, "Sorry about the Old Ghoul crack Cologne. Force of habit you know."

The Amazon elder wasn't sure if she was more shocked because she had run into Ranma like this or if it was the fact that he was apologizing for calling her names. Cologne quickly replied, "It's alright Ranma. I can fully understand how a habit can become so ingrained that it's a reflex. Now, is there something that I can do to help you?"

Ranma thought about it for a second and eventually decided to tell Cologne about Nemesis and Usa's proposal. Cologne didn't have a stake in what he did since she annulled Shampoo's marriage, so she could offer unbiased advice. Besides, Ranma asked himself, who else could he talk to that could give him good advice about this situation and not believe that he needed to be locked up?

It took Ranma about half an hour to give Cologne all the details about the situation. During this time Cologne just sat and listened, except for one or two instances where she needed a point clarified. Once Ranma had finished explaining everything, Cologne closed her eyes and thought about the whole situation. Matters like this did come up in the Amazon high council from time to time and they were only solved with very careful consideration. Cologne also knew that she needed to be careful about what she told Ranma. The boy needed to solve the problem on his own and couldn't be given a solution.

Now in her wise old teacher mode, Cologne slowly said, "You need to think carefully Ranma. No one can just give you some advice and say that it's the solution. Let me ask you something. Do you feel that the ends justify the means or that the means must justify the ends? Is your course of action to help your people or to help yourself? Have you carefully explored all of your options or are you grabbing whatever looks good at the moment? When someone is a leader, like you and I are, that person has to ask themselves these questions all the time."

"As for your companion's plan, well I've see and heard about a lot of coups in my lifetime. Some coups lead to more suffering for everyone involved. Other coups did help out people of the countries involved. However, most coups simply got rid of one set of problems and replaced them with another set. If you go along with Usa's plan and it succeeds, then both your people stand to gain a lot. But at the same time, this plan could destroy any relations your people might have if the plan fails."

"Think about this and all of the other aspects you can think of and then make your decision. Whether or not your decision turns out to be the right one can only be determined once everything is said and done. And even then, it is for the historians and the people that come after you who will determine whether your decision was the right one. After all, there have been cases where a decision might at first appear to be a mistake, but later turns up to be a blessing in disguise."

Ranma thought about what Cologne said for a second and then he gave the ancient teacher a bright smile. He then said, "I've got to admit Cologne, that's the best advice I've gotten since I got stuck with this gig. Thanks for the lesson."

Cologne chuckled and replied, "Any time Ranma, any time. I may not be able to teach you martial arts anymore, but you're still a joy to teach. Why don't you stop by Nerima while you're in this time period? A lot of your friends and family over there would like to see you again and you never know when you'll be able to visit."

While shrugging his shoulders Ranma nonchalantly said, "I don't know Cologne. Part of me wants to see everyone again, for old time's sake if nothing else. However, another part of me wants to stay away from them. I'm not Ranma Saotome anymore; hell, I'm barely Ranma Tohno anymore. Do you really think that Nerima can handle Prince Ranma of Nemesis; especially when you consider the NWC's track record with magical princes?"

To Ranma's surprise Cologne crackled and retorted, "You got a point there. Magical princes and the folks in Nerima don't exactly mix. However, I'm sure that we can grandmother you from that little ruling. If not, well, I've got my cane and you've got your magic. That should at least insure that you can have a short visit with your mother and your ancestress in peace." After that Ranma and Cologne wrapped up the conversation and headed their separate ways.


	12. Chapter 12

Ranma woke up in his apartment bedroom and quickly got ready for the day. The apartment was definitely a lot smaller then his suit at the royal palace, but in a way that was a good thing. Here in the twentieth century Ranma didn't have to be Prince Ranma of Nemesis and could just be plain old Ranma Tohno. How many royals or nobles could enjoy that privilege?

After Ranma had his breakfast, he looked at his watch and walked over to his computer. The computer had two settings that were activated by a hidden magical seal. One setting made the computer's software seem like it was average household software for the mid 90s. The other setting allowed the computer to act like it really was meant to: state of the art for the 30th century. Sure it was annoying having to flip between the two settings, but at least it insured that no one would wonder about the technology in the computer.

Once the computer was booted up and Ranma had logged in, he clicked on a small icon labeled Nemesis. Almost instantly Ranma was able to access the Nemesis palace's main computer. He then pulled up his folder and began to read the various invoices that had collected over the past 24 hours. Naturally after a quick skim, most of the items were promptly deleted. Over all, things were running pretty smoothly and there was nothing that needed Ranma's immediate attention.

With business taken care of for the moment, Ranma decided to just play some video games. Sadly for Ranma, he just got the Mechwarrior 3 CD into the disk drive when the doorbell rang. Ranma quickly flipped the computer's settings and walked over to the front door. He then opened it and said, "Who is it?"

To Ranma's surprise Usa was standing at the door in an entirely new getup. Usa was now wearing a baseball hat and had her hair coming out the back in a single ponytail. Her conservative outfit from last night had been traded in for a formfitting light pink t-shirt with a low, but not immodest, neckline. Instead of a dress, Usa was wearing a pair of tight black jeans that showed off her curves. Also, Usa was accessorizing with a pair of leather biker gloves. Altogether Usa's outfit showed that she was a very attractive woman without making her look cheap.

Usa watched Ranma's reaction and she couldn't help herself from smiling as Ranma checked her out. Even if Usa knew that she had an attractive body, it was always a mood booster for her to see someone else appreciate her form. Besides, if everything panned out she'd be married to Ranma. Knowing that Ranma would appreciate her would make that arrangement pleasanter. Usa gave Ranma a cheerful smile and said, "Hey Ranma, can I come in?"

Ranma shrugged his shoulders and calmly made a path for Usa to come in. Once Usa was inside, Ranma said, "Okay Usa. Why did you come over? Not that I mind you coming over, but I honesty wasn't expecting you today."

Usa looked at Ranma and calmly replied, "I just wanted to see you Ranma and I was hoping that we could hang out." She then sat down and continued on. "Whether or not you decide to support me in my bid for the throne, I hope that we can be friends. It's so hard for people like you and I to make true friends that I don't want to let the chance to be your friend slip by. Besides, if you do agree to my proposal I want my future marriage to be built on more then just political convenience and sex."

At first Ranma wasn't sure how to respond to Usa's answer. Even more then most girls, Usa was a paradox. Sometimes Usa could be annoyingly vague and at others she was refreshingly blunt. Likewise, Usa could rapidly switch between being confident and being unsure of herself. And yet through all of these changes, Ranma always felt that he could trust her. Finally Ranma said, "So what did you have in mind Usa?"

In a laid back manner Usa answered, "Whatever you want to do Ranma. It gets so annoying for me in Crystal Tokyo with having to constantly plan out my day. When you're on Nemesis, don't you wish to just cut back and do whatever you felt like? You pick whatever you want us to do and we'll do it. I'll even pick up the tab if you want."

For a second, Ranma almost thought that Usa was asking him on a date. However, Ranma decided to ignore that potential view point, and he instead focused on just hanging out with a friend. So Ranma thought about Usa's suggestion and then said, "How about we go ice skating?" It was the only thing that Ranma could think of that could be interesting to the both of them, didn't involved a major chance of his curse activating, and wasn't likely to be mistaken as a date.

Usa looked a little nervous and slowly said, "Slight problem Ranma. I don't know how to ice skate,"

Naturally, Ranma became embarrassed at suggesting something that Usa couldn't do. Ranma started scratching the back of his head and replied, "Sorry about that Usa. If you want, I can teach you how to ice skate. Or, you can pick something else for us to do."

Usa bit her lower lip, which for some reason Ranma found extremely cute, and thought about it for a little bit. Part of her wanted to go along with Ranma's suggestion of ice skating with lessons. However, another part of Usa wanted to teleport to the Caribbean for some snorkeling. In the end Usa said, "If you teach me how to ice skate then sure."

Ranma flashed Usa a smile and said, "Okay then. Just let me take care of a few quick things and then we can head out. Oh and before I forget, do you want to use hokey skates or figure skating skates?" After seeing a blank look on Usa's face, Ranma said, "Better go with the figure skates."

* * *

Kasumi walked off of the train carrying a small gym bag at her side. Things had been hectic in Nerima for the past few days as another crazy misadventure occurred, and Kasumi was grateful to get out of the ward for a few hours. While Kasumi had learned to develop a think skin when it came to weird things, Nazi cows wanting to exterminate kangaroos to insure the purity of the meat industry was a little much. What made that whole situation so annoying, besides the fact that there weren't any kangaroos in Japan, was the fact that Kasumi couldn't figure out what she had done to deserve that kind of karma.

Luckily for Kasumi's sanity, Minako had suggested a girl's day out for the gang at the ice ring over in Juban. Usagi had been a little upset that Mamoru wouldn't be there, but the Earth Prince had politely bailed out by claiming that he had to study for a test. Personally, Kasumi wished that she could bring out the Princess Serenity that was buried in Usagi. It wasn't that Usagi was a bad girl, but Kasumi couldn't help feeling disappointed in Usagi whenever the young woman whined about something. Sure Usagi was barely 15 and Princess Serenity had been nearly 21 when she died, but when did facts ever get in the way of emotions?

As soon as Kasumi turned the corner and saw the ice ring, she stopped thinking about her crazy life and Scout business. The Scouts and Usagi were already waiting by the front door like Kasumi was expecting. Usagi spotted Kasumi first and waved enthusiastically before running up to Kasumi. The two hugged each other while the rest of the girls walked over. For the next five minutes or so, everyone just exchanged pleasantries until Kasumi said, "What are we standing out here for? Let's go hit the ice."

Naturally, this got a round of cheers from the gang and everyone rushed inside to the ring. Once everyone was out on the ice, the gang started to fragment. Makoto and Minako started looking for cute boys. Michiru and Haruka went off and did their own thing. Rei and Ami started to go through a few simple routines that showed that they had some serious potential on the ice.

As for Kasumi and Usagi, those two were casually skating next to each other. This was the first chance that the two of them had to be by themselves and just chat. Things were very confusing for the both of them. On the one hand they were friends, but on the other hand they had the residual emotions from their past lives constantly surfacing. Neither of them exactly knew how to deal with this problem. After all, that sort of thing wasn't covered in a self-help book and a shrink would just consider them crazy.

Luckily for both Kasumi and Usagi, Kasumi was able to find something that they could both talk about which wasn't related to the Sailor Scouts. In a soothing manner she said, "Usagi, how would you like me to help you with some of your homework? I heard that you're having trouble in a few areas."

Usagi pouted a bit and whined, "Does everyone know I have trouble in school? No offense Kasumi, but I don't think you can help me. Ami's been tutoring me for a while now and I've barely managed to make a decent C. If a genius like Ami can only help me improve that far, what chance to do have?"

Surprisingly, Kasumi giggled a bit and quickly replied, "Actually, I'd say that I've got a great chance of getting you to at least a B. At least, I'll be able to if you put some effort in it that is. Ami may be a genus Usagi, but that doesn't mean that she can teach. It's likely that Ami is so used to thinking on one level that she can't see what is causing you problems. Everyone can learn as long at they honestly put their effort into it and the teacher figures out how to present the information in a way that they can understand."

It was like the proverbial light bulb went off for Usagi. "You mean to say," She began, "That my problem is that I'm looking at the stuff in school the wrong way?"

Kasumi smiled and answered, "Not exactly, but you've got the right idea. Sometimes in school things are presented in such a boring manner that it's hard to learn. When this happens, the answer is to present the information in a manner that the prospective student can understand. Luckily for you, I'm pretty good at finding out how to present the information so that someone can learn."

Usagi suddenly hugged Kasumi and kept on saying, "Thank you, thank you," over and over again. As Kasumi returned Usagi's hug she couldn't help feeling that everything was right in the world. Sure there were still a lot of problems to be taken care of, but as of that moment Kasumi knew with absolute certainty that everything would be alright. Kasumi hadn't felt this way since before Ranma left.

Suddenly, Kasumi's eyes locked onto one of the other skaters in the ring. Normally Kasumi wouldn't stare at other people; however, she spotted what she thought was the Eclipse on a young man's forehead. Kasumi immediately started following the man with her gaze and waited to see his face. As soon as the man turned again in Kasumi's direction she knew that he was Ranma.

At first, Usagi was confused about Kasumi abrupt change in behavior. In order to figure out what was going on, Usagi followed Kasumi's gaze to Ranma. Usagi then curiously asked, "Who's that guy Kasumi? Is he someone you know?"

Kasumi turned to face Usagi and softly replied, "Yes, I know him Usagi. His name is Ranma and he's my descendent from the 30th century."

Usagi couldn't believe what Kasumi had just told her. How by the goddess could that young man be Kasumi's descendant? Sailor Pluto would certainly never allow someone to travel to the past to skate; more to the point, Chibiusa was an only child! Usagi suddenly got a pit in her stomach as she remembered why Chibiusa had left a month ago. Tepidly, Usagi inquired, "Kasumi is Ranma from Nemesis?"

Kasumi nonchalantly replied, "Why yes Usagi. Ranma is the Prince of Nemesis. How did you know?" While Kasumi was happy that Usagi had caught on to everything, she did wish that her reincarnated daughter would be a little quicker on the uptake. Being able to figure out what is going on is a vital skill for all leaders and frankly, Usagi needed to practice it a little more.

Immediately after Kasumi thought that, Usagi surprised the older girl by saying, "But why is he here? Chibiusa mentioned that Nemesis didn't have their time tunnel anymore and I can't see why Sailor Pluto would let him return to this time."

That, Kasumi privately admitted, was a very good point. Kasumi had been so shocked at seeing Ranma that she forgot to ask the paramount question of why he was here. Quickly coming to a decision Kasumi stated, "Usagi, go and gather the Scouts. Don't cause a scene, but get everyone as quickly as you can and tell them to skate over by the gate. I'm going to go talk to Ranma and try to find out what's going on. Unless I use my magic, I don't want you or the Scouts within ten feet of Ranma and me while we talk. Now go."

Usagi was a little apprehensive about leaving Kasumi alone with Ranma; not that anyone could blame her considering what she had endured because of Prince Demand. However, Usagi was willing to trust Kasumi's judgment since she knew Ranma. If anyone had the faintest clue about what Ranma would do, it was Kasumi. And so with only a single fleeting look back, Usagi skated off to collect the Scouts.

Since Kasumi didn't want to cause a scene, she didn't head strait towards Ranma. Instead, she skated in a wavy manner that slowly brought her closer to Ranma in a spiral pattern. Kasumi used this time to causally study Ranma. In Nerima non-combatants, i.e. everyone who didn't have at least two black belts quickly developed the ability to read other people even if it was on an instinctual level. They did need to know when to clear an area so the heavy weights of the NWC could rumble. Thanks to that ability, Kasumi was able collect a wealth of information on Ranma from his face and from his body posture.

Over all, Kasumi was pleased with what she saw. Ranma's basic personally from Nerima seemed to still be there. However, Ranma's eyes and body posture showed that Ranma wasn't as naïve as he used to be, and that he had developed a bit of skin to deal with insults. Kasumi wouldn't have figured out that last aspect of Ranma's changes if it wasn't for her memories of Queen Serenity. As queen, she had needed every bit of information she could get on just how far she could push a diplomat or a courtier before they pushed back.

However, before Kasumi got close enough to talk with Ranma, she saw something that nearly floored her. Usa skated up from behind Ranma and gave him a hug. What's more, Ranma wasn't trying to escape the girl's hug. Yes Ranma was a little nervous and unsure about the hug, but he was definitely enjoying it. What by the goddess could have caused this kind of a change in Ranma? Nevertheless, Kasumi put her confusion aside and politely greeted Ranma, "Hello Ranma. It's been a while since we last met."

Before Ranma could say anything, Usa quickly cut in, "Who's this Ranma? Could you introduce me to your friend?" Actually, Usa knew exactly who Kasumi was. Not only was Kasumi's photo in Crystal Tokyo's historical archives, but there were several portraits of her throughout the Nemesian palace. Usa just didn't want to have to explain how she who Kasumi was without ever actually meeting the girl.

Ranma was elated that Kasumi and Usa were acting so friendly to each other and quickly introduced them. "Usa, this is Kasumi. She's an old friend of mine from Nerima. Kasumi, this is Usa. She's a friend I made since I left Nerima." The two young women pleasantly shook hands and started to talk. Once that happened, Ranma quickly started to learn a new skill called deflecting family from telling embarrassing stories to the girl you like.

* * *

Setsuna was sitting in the palace library reading a copy of Gibbon's _The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_ when she noticed that someone was walking towards her. It took Setsuna a second to place the man and then she politely said, "Hello Captain Sora. How was your patrol today?" Sora Irino was the captain of the Crystal Company which was the security force of the city of Crystal Tokyo and the royal family's bodyguards after the Scouts.

Sora quietly sat down in the seat next to Setsuna and he quietly said, "I know what you're planning Setsuna. Don't worry; you've got my and the Crystal Company's full support."

The danger alarm inside Setsuna's head was ringing like it never had before. While it was possible that Sora was telling her the truth, it was also possible that he was trying to trap her into revealing the plan to remove Neo-Queen Serenity from the throne. One didn't live through 10,000 years watching political intrigue to not recognize a potential trap. So in an effort to try and make Sora commit to the coup, Setsuna carefully replied, "That's very thoughtful of you. I'm glad that the Crystal Guard approves of my choice of books for the princess when she returns from her tour."

At that point Sora just groaned and stated, "You know me Setsuna so let's not beat around the bush. The princess and you are planning on removing Serenity from the throne and making the princess the Neo-Queen in her place. You've got the entire Crystal Guard's support in your bid for the throne. I don't know where the princess is at the moment, but I suspect that she's trying to collect support from somewhere that she can't regularly access from the palace. Just say the word and the guard can have her on the throne by the end of the day."

Setsuna narrowed her eyes and coldly questioned Sora, "Why is the Crystal Guard so willing to overthrow the current Neo-Queen?" This didn't make any sense to Sestsuna. The Crystal Guard was made up of the best and most loyal fighters that lived on Earth. What could cause them to break their oaths of loyalty to the throne? Even more frightening, was the Crystal Guard planning on setting up a policy of making and breaking the Neo-monarchs?

As if he was reading her thoughts, Sora merrily said, "Don't worry Setsuna. I'm not planning on selling the throne on E-Bay. Normally the other guards and I would never think of supporting such a radical plan, but frankly we're fed up. Things weren't great before the war with how the other Scouts were running the country, but they were tolerable. Now, it's like the titanic has been hit by the ice burg and their solution is to redecorate the ball room."

That was defiantly a fair analogy of what was going on. Neo-Queen Serenity had proclaimed all the damage that was done in the war would be repaired. And all the damage was repaired, the parks and public monuments never looked better. Also, the forests and the valleys were back to there previous pristine condition. Unfortunately, the world's infrastructure and industry had been completely ignored at was nearing the point of total collapse because of the strain the renewal projects.

Sora calmly continued on explaining why the Guard was willing to join in the coup. "Our oath is to protect the royal family and the people of Crystal Tokyo. Neo-Queen Serenity, even though she believes she's doing the best for the people, is hurting everyone by allowing the other Scouts to run the show. Furthermore, she'd never remove the Scouts from their current positions because she trusts them to do their jobs. The princess is young, but she has shown that she has the intelligence to run things around here. By putting her on the throne we can fulfill one part of our oaths without fully breaking the other part."

Silence descended on the library as Setsuna mulled over what Sora had told her. After examining every possible angle Setsuna carefully replied, "The princess is planning a surprise party that will be held sometime after she returns from her trip. I'll tell her that the Guard wants to help decorate."

After Sora rolled his eyes, the captain of the guard replied, "If that's how you want to refer to it Setsuna alright. And by the way, tell that the guard is hoping that the princess can find a real man to be her husband. Sure her father is a nice guy, but the guards and I would prefer a Neo-King who would inspire confidence by leading from the front. We don't care if she chooses the spawn of Satan, just a long as she picks a man that other guys can look up to and not shake their heads in embarrassment."

Now Setsuna could understand that little request. She was a little miffed about it, but she understood where Sora was coming from. Neo-King Endymion was very popular among many of the ladies in Crystal Tokyo for his devotion and touching love story with the Neo-Queen. However, many guys were not very happy with Tuxedo Mask's marginal role prior to and during the initial years of Crystal Tokyo. Setsuna then thought about Ranma for a second and smiled. If everything paned out for Usa, the Crystal Guard would get their wish.

* * *

Ranma turned his head and looked at Usa's pink hair as she rested her head on his shoulder. Dimly in the background, the TV was showing The Godfather, but Ranma really didn't care about that. All Ranma could think about at the moment was the beautiful angel that was resting in his arms. It was almost unbelievable really. Back in Nerima, Ranma had escaped a gauntlet of female affection. However, in less then a day his heart had been captured by Usa.

What was it about Usa that was so endearing to him? What spark did she possess that no one else had? It wasn't the princess's looks that had captured Ranma's heart. Sure Usa was beautiful, but Shampoo was just a little more physically attractive then the princess. In the end, Ranma could only think of one explanation, since a discreet self-scan showed that no mind altering magic was being used, on why he had fallen in love so quickly. Usa had been his friend and she accepted him curse and all. Also, she was honest with him and didn't try to manipulate him. Those two simple things together had annihilated the walls that Ranma had built around his heart.

As Usa turned in her sleep so that her crescent sigil came into view, Kasumi's revelation from earlier came to Ranma's mind. In all honesty, Ranma couldn't tell what was more bizarre: Kasumi being the reincarnation of Queen Serenity, or the fact that Usa was his cousin in a way. Of course, that last part was really rather pointless. Even if the connection had been by blood, there were so many generations between Ranma and Usa that even the Church in the middle ages wouldn't have been able to complain. Besides, when did kinship stop royal marriages?

Suddenly the magnitude of what Ranma was thinking hit him. How could he even think of marriage at this point? He and Usa weren't even dating! Ranma slowly shook his head and let out a resigned sigh. Of course he was thinking of marriage, as the Prince it was his duty to find a wife and perpetuate the royal line. The Nemesian people needed their royal family and there weren't any cadet branches that Ranma could pass the crown to.

The light bulb went off for Ranma as he was hit by a revelation. Ranma started shaking Usa saying, "Get up Usa! I've thought of a way to sort everything out without a coup."

Normally, Usa would sleep through anything and everything; however, she was immediately awake when she heard the possibility of sorting everything out without a coup. Usa glanced over at Ranma and eagerly inquired, "How? How can we sort everything out without a coup?"

Ranma grinned and replied, "Simple Usa, we solve everything with a royal marriage. When we return to the 30th century, I'll contact Crystal Tokyo about arraigning a royal marriage for you and me to insure peaceful relations between Nemesis and Crystal Tokyo. To help out Crystal Tokyo's financial and manufacturing infrastructure, I'll take a large sum, say 10 million Solidii, out of my family's personal accounts and offer it as a bride price. In the bridal contract we could stipulate that you'd be in charge of managing how the bride price money is used to repair the infrastructure. As a dowry, you could suggest that your parents grant Nemesis the mining rights for one of the outer worlds."

Usa blinked her eyes and then smacked her forehead as she exclaimed, "Why didn't I think of that! Mom's a complete moron when it comes to politics, but she's an absolute sucker for romance. Throw in a few lines like my beauty has been haunting you in your dreams and she'll sign the documents as soon as I give her my okay. The Scouts shouldn't be a problem if we try this route since they'll think that I've succeeded in seducing you."

"Of course, there is the minuscule chance that your uncle's actions will make mom hesitant to have me marry you. I seriously doubt it, but there is that chance. However, even that could work out to our advantage. Most of the citizens of Crystal Tokyo don't really care about the other worlds under Crystal Tokyo's control since those worlds are uninhabited. If mom does refuse your marriage offer we could leak it to the commoners. They won't be happy that the factories making their TVs, couches, etc aren't being repaired because mom won't grant you access to a few lumps of rock. They'll be especially angry with mom about rejecting this deal when I've given my consent."

Ranma hadn't thought of that possibility, but now that Usa had pointed it out he couldn't help being impressed. Either Neo-Queen Serenity approved of the match and the two of them slowly chipped power away from the Scouts, or Usa took over Crystal Tokyo using the people disgruntlement with Neo-Queen Serenity to cement her position as the new New-Queen. No matter what happened, their peoples would be the winners.

Also, both of them would come out winners from this. It is a well known fact that royalty rarely got to pick their spouse. Usually, political necessity forced a marriage of convenience with someone that royalty in question would prefer not to associate with at all. Ranma and Usa were extremely fortunate to find a match that they were comfortable with and that helped out their people.

Usa got off of the couch and politely said, "Its getting late Ranma so I'm heading back to my hotel room. I'll be back here tomorrow so that we can hang out and hammer out the details of the contract." She then got a mildly somber look in her eye and continued on, "I know we're rushing things Ranma. If you want, we could wait a while before presenting this contract to my mother."

Ranma sighed and slowly responded, "Know what you mean Usa. I never thought I'd be pushing for an early marriage, but the sooner we tie the knot the better. The longer we wait the more serious Crystal Tokyo's and Nemesis's problems get. Also, the quicker we push this marriage through the less chance we have of some disgruntled faction messing something up."

Immediately after Ranma said that, Usa snorted and said, "There will always be some disgruntled faction causing problems. But, getting married ASAP would be a good idea. Mom might be disappointed since that means that we won't be able to arrange a huge celebration; however, it won't bother me. Holding a ostentatious celebration given Crystal Tokyo's current situation would defiantly create a lot of bad PR among the commoners."

Now Ranma was smirking and he half jokingly said, "You should create a legislature. Anything that goes wrong can be pined on a legislature since it's typically packed with a bunch of idiots. Sadly, I can't really do that since enough districts shanghaied semi-competent people into being Senators to cover the blunders of the absolute morons."

Usa rolled her eyes and said, "Goodnight Ranma and get ready to feel some pain in your wallet when this trip ends. You're not getting into my bed unless you're willing to at least pay for my weight in gold." Usa suddenly gave Ranma a passionate kiss and then pulled away just as Ranma was truly beginning to enjoy the kiss. Next, Usa winked at Ranma and said, "Don't keep me waiting Ranma." With that said, Usa left the apartment.


	13. Chapter 13

Usa was merrily strolling down the street carrying a backpack, when she heard someone whisper in shocked manner, "Black Lady?" The future princess whirled around trying to find who had mentioned her evil alter-ego. It didn't take Usa very long to spot Mamoru standing a few feet behind her. Even though Usa was shocked, she kept her wits and thought about what to do. She then calmly walked over to Mamoru and said, "Hi cousin. I didn't expect to see you today."

By now, Mamoru was trying to figure out what was going on. Chibiusa was supposed to be a cute little, if slightly annoying at times to Usako, girl in the 30th century. She wasn't supposed to be a teenager hanging out in the 20th century. When Mamoru had first passed Usa by he wanted to believe that she was simply a young woman who had a passing resemblance to a grown up Chibiusa. However, when Usa had turned around to look at Mamoru, he was left without any doubts. Black Lady's face had been seared into Mamoru's memory.

It just didn't seem possible to Mamoru. Chibiusa had been restored to her proper age by Neo-Queen Serenity. Her features were too soft and she was too friendly for this sudden age to be explained as another transformation. Something clicked in Mamoru's mind and he remembered that Usa traveled through time. Could this a grown up Chibiusa? Trying to prevent a scene, Mamoru politely nodded his head and replied, "Hello cousin. I didn't expect to see you today either."

Usa swiftly closed the gap between the two of them and gave Mamoru a hug. While Usa was hugging Mamoru, she whispered into his ear, "Refer to me as Usa. If anyone asks, I'm your paternal cousin." Mamoru quickly caught on to Usa's plan and had to admire the elegance in her cover story's simplicity. Almost imperceptibly, Mamoru nodded his head to show that he understood.

Quickly afterwards, Usa ended the hug and she waited for Mamoru to speak. It was obvious that he'd want to know why she was here. Sure enough, Mamoru asked, "So Usa, why are you in town? It's great to see you again, but I honestly wasn't expecting to see you again for a while."

In a friendly manner, Usa replied, "I'm only in town till the end of the week Mamoru. Recently, I got in contact with the new owner of the shop across the street from mom and dad's shop. You know the one that they were having that big feud with? Well, the two of us decided to hold a series of low-key meetings here in the city to see if we can iron out some of the problems that have come up between our two stores in the past. Once we get a decent agreement we're planning on going back to my home town and getting my folks to accept our new plan."

Since Usa got her brains from Mamoru, it wasn't surprising that he quickly decoded why she was here. Mamoru quickly thought over what Usa had told him. So Usa was in the past with Ranma to quietly discuss a treaty between Crystal Tokyo and Nemesis? Well, at least that explained why Kasumi ran into Ranma the other day. The Prince of Earth had to admit that Usa had found the perfect place for a secret meeting. No one would be able to leak information about Usa and Ranma's new treaty if they created the treaty in the distant past.

After admiring Usa's ingenuity, Mamoru said, "Well then cousin, I wish you luck on your meeting. Hopefully you and your friend will be able to work everything out. By the way, are you and your friend planning on hanging out with everyone? Some of those games the group likes to play aren't a whole lot of fun with the number of players we currently have. Adding two or even one more players would make the games a whole lot better."

Usa put two fingers against her cheek and said, "I don't know Mamoru. Ranma and I are trying to keep the fact that we're in town quiet. However, we'll defiantly join in if we're nearby when the gang starts to play. Anyways, it was good seeing you."

Mamoru nodded his head and replied, "It was good seeing you to. Keep safe cousin."

In one of the conference rooms in the palace, Seto and Ranma's cabinet were just sitting down for a meeting. Seto looked at his associates and said, "It's good that you were all able to get here so fast with such short notice. No doubt you all are wondering why I called this meeting. About an hour ago the prince sent me a copy of a treaty he has crafted with Princess Serenity of Crystal Tokyo. If you will direct your attention to your computer screens you see the contents of the treaty. The prince wants to know what you think of the treaty before he sends it off to Neo-Queen Serenity."

For the next few minutes the conference room was silent as the secretaries carefully read the treaty. Seto spent this time carefully observing the secretaries reactions. Even though it was rather petty of him, Seto couldn't help grinning when he saw the shocked look on Tamahome's face. Obviously the tight-fisted man had just come across Ranma's bride price offer. After everyone had finished reading the treaty Seto said, "Your opinions ladies and gentlemen."

Being the Secretary of Foreign Matters, Releena spoke first. "Over all it is a very sound treaty and its terms are quite generous. While it might be possible to gain control of the mentioned moons without the dynastic marriage, the political fallout among our trading partners would simply be too much. This treaty will grant us peace on the sunward front, boost our trading partners' opinions of us, and secure the dynasty for the next generation. I say that the prince should send the treaty to Neo-Queen Serenity as is whenever he wants to."

Heero backed his wife up by saying, "I also support the treaty as is. While Crystal Tokyo is a non-existent entity militarily speaking, it does have connections to Kinmoku, Thundera, Triforia, and Jurai. It is extremely likely that at least one of those four would get involved if we pushed for military annexation of any of these moons. Given our present military capabilities, we would be hard pressed to win against any of those four. Even if it was just Kinmoku we'd have a lot of trouble since they have closer ties with our remaining trading partners then we do."

Ishizu and Teletha also agreed that the treaty was a good idea. Finally Tamahome spoke up. "Look, I hate to be the bad guy here, but this treaty isn't going to work. 30 million Solari isn't nearly enough to 'restore Crystal Tokyo's industry.' Crystal Tokyo lost more the 600 million Solari worth of industry assets during the war thanks to the plans that Mr. scorched earth Yui over here managed to get done under Wiseman's nose. There is absolutely no way that 30 million can even start Crystal Tokyo's industry again with Neo-Queen Serenity in charge over there. Even if by some miracle the princess didn't inherit her mother's financial incompetence, there's still the fact that Neo-Queen Serenity is running the show. Knowing her, that 30 million will disappear because of ridiculous regulations and environmental penalties."

Releena quickly replied, "I don't see how Crystal Tokyo's lack of industry is our concern. Section 13, subsection 3, paragraph 5 states that when the princess inherits the Crystal Throne that both Nemesis and Crystal Tokyo are to remain separate beyond the connection on the dynastic level. Except for a shared foreign police and maybe some trade agreements, the two nations will remain completely separate."

Seto's eyes light up and he said, "I see what you're getting at Tamahome. You're worried that Nemesis will have to prop Crystal Tokyo up financially as well as militarily. I'll send a note to the prince advising him to add a clause to the treaty stating that funds cannot be transferred from Nemesis to Crystal Tokyo besides the bride price without approval of the Nemesian Senate. Since we're talking about government funds, it would have had to be approved by the Senate in the first place."

Tamahome nodded his head and said, "If that clause is added to the treaty, then I have no more reservations about it. I don't want Nemesis to go broke because Neo-Queen Serenity has to buy a 10 Nummi stick of bubblegum with a 20 Soldai bill and always forgets to collect the change." Everyone around the table broke out into grins at Tamahome's joke. Sure it was an old joke, but it was still a good one.

Everyone's professionalism quickly returned and Seto said, "So, does everyone approve of the treaty with the Tamahome clause added?" Seto looked around the table as everyone calmly nodded their heads. The chancellor then nodded his head and said, "I'll inform the prince about the cabinet's recommendations. This meeting is now over."

Ranma and Usa were walking down the streets of Nerima towards the Cat Café. After Usa's run-in with Mamoru, the duo wanted to avoid meeting any more of Usa's Scout friends for the rest of the day. The Cat Café seemed like the best idea because the Scouts never headed for Nerima. According to Kasumi, she always went to the Scouts in Juuban so the Scouts wouldn't be in Nerima. Since Kasumi had met Ranma in Juuban, the royal duo figure that any man hunts by the NWC would be conducted in Juuban. That meant that Nerima would paradoxically be the quietest spot they could find.

Once Ranma and Usa got to the Cat Café, they went in and sat down in the waiting area. Shortly after their arrival, Shampoo cheerfully walked up and said, "Hello there and welcome to the Cat-" Shampoo instantly stopped talking when she saw Ranma standing in the waiting area. The Amazon's eyes narrowed as her gaze moved from Ranma to Usa. In a very testy manner, Shampoo continued on, "I will be your waiter today. Follow me."

While Ranma was confused by Shampoo's behavior, Usa was not. Obviously, Shampoo still cared a great deal for Ranma and Usa's presence was aggravating the Amazon. Part of Usa really wanted to send Shampoo a 'back off he's mine' aura. However, Usa decided against it in the end. Doing that would only increase problems and Usa really didn't want to get involved in a cat fight.

Luckily for Usa and Ranma, Cologne spotted them entering the restaurant and the near death glares Shampoo was sending Usa. Cologne quickly made a decision and when Shampoo came near she said, "I'll take care of table 26 dear."

Shampoo froze and tried to figure out what she should do. On the one hand, she didn't want to be near Ranma while he was on a date with some floozy. But on the other hand, she didn't want said floozy to be near Ranma. So what if Great-grandmother had ruled that she actually hadn't been married to Ranma? Shampoo loved him. However, Shampoo also knew when going against her grandmother was a bad idea. So in a quiet manner Shampoo stated, "Yes Great-grandmother."

Meanwhile at their table, Ranma and Usa were trying to figure out what to eat. Usually whenever Ranma went over to the Cat café in the past he would just grab some ramen. However, this time he wanted to try one of the other menu choices. Cologne hopped up to the table just as Ranma and Usa finished deciding on lunch and she said, "Hello there Ranma, and good day miss. One of our new hands didn't show up for her shift, so we had to rearrange the waiter zones. Hope you don't mind me filling in for Shampoo."

Usa quickly caught on to why Cologne was waiting on them instead of Shampoo and smirked. The elder had smoothly removed a potentially serious problem for the afternoon without any trouble and politely explained what happened in a very believable manner. While the duo ordered, Usa made a mental note to ask Setsuna to take notes on Cologne with the Time Gates. She was sure that the old Amazonian leader had some useful skills for governing.

At the same time, Cologne was studying Usa to see what kind of woman she was. If Cologne hadn't been so good at observing people, she would have wondered at Ranma's tale that Usa wanted to overthrow her mother. However, Cologne could peer past Usa's smile and see the formidable mind behind. In a way, it was almost like looking back through time for Cologne. Usa possessed a drive and desire to help her people that Cologne had possessed and still possessed.

Once Cologne had the orders, she crackled and said, "Word of advice Ranma, keep this girl close. I've seen way too many foolish men go after bad women because they didn't know which head to think with. This girl appears to one of the rare girls that has beauty and brains so hang on to her. Of course, that type of girl tends to be the most dangerous when you cross them so be sure to keep her happy."

Ranma knew that Cologne was sincerely happy, or at least pleased with, him marrying Usa. Even though Ranma wasn't Cologne's great-great-grandson-in-law, she still thought of him like a beloved grandson. Similarly, Ranma had come to view Cologne like she was he own grandmother. Ranma would never say it out loud, but Cologne's approval of Usa meant a lot to him.

As Ranma and Usa's lunch date continued on Cologne would periodically pop in and chat for a few minutes. With each visit, Cologne was able to get a clearer and clearer picture of Ranma and Usa's relationship. The young couple weren't in love; at least, they weren't in love as modern romantics would consider being in love. One of the most prominent facts dominating their relationship was the fact that both needed to secure a good marriage for their respective kingdoms future. That need to secure their lines and their people's safety was the reason why their relationship was moving at such a breakneck speed.

However, Ranma and Usa's relationship wasn't driven solely by political expediency. Cologne had been around long enough to recognize all the signs. Both Ranma and Usa respected the other as a person, and they cared for the other. Also, the two still had their friendship from before Ranma ascended to the throne. What Ranma and Usa had forged was, realistically speaking, the closest that nobility ever got to a perfect marriage. Cologne was sure that if either let this match slip through his or her fingers, then that person would be too stupid to be a ruler.

Hotaru was sitting in the park feeling depressed as usual. Chibiusa, Hotaru's only friend, had left the city to go back home to her folks. In Hotaru's mind it just wasn't fair. She had finally made a friend who wasn't scared by her powers and then the friend had to leave. Why did Chibiusa have to go? Why couldn't Chibiusa's parents let her stay in town for a few more days?

While Hotaru was wallowing in self-pity, Usa and Ranma were slowly walking up the park path. Usa stopped the duo about 15 feet away and softly said, "There she is Ranma. That's my friend Hotaru."

In a low voice Ranma replied, "The coast is clear Usa. However, are you sure you want to do this? We can have a lot of problems if Mistress 9 starts to act up within her. Besides, wouldn't this alert your mother to the fact that we're in the past?"

Usa quickly replied, "In her current state, Mistress 9's power is insignificant compared to ours. Getting Hotaru out of the 20th century will weaken the Death Busters to the point where they will only be a minor threat to the Scouts in this era. Eventually, the Scouts will defeat the Death Busters and emerge stronger because of the fact that the continuing threat won't allow their skills to degrade. My mother won't find out about this because Setsuna won't tell her."

Ranma nodded his head and said, "If you say so Usa. I really hope we can convince her to come with us because I don't like the idea of anyone being possessed by a Class II wraith-like entity. The sooner we can get her to Yamoto City Hospital the better."

Instead of saying something, Usa simply pulled out her new transformation pen and transformed into Chibiusa. The newly shrunken princess raced towards Hotaru calling out, "Hey Hotaru. Did you miss me?"

Hotaru's head immediately bobbled up as the frail girl looked at Chibiusa. With a tear in her eye, Hotaru said, "Chibiusa, you're back! I thought I wouldn't get to see you sense you went away."

Chibiusa hugged her dear friend and said, "I wasn't gone that long Hotaru. Besides, I came back as soon as I could. After all, you're my friend." For several minutes afterwards Chibiusa and Hotaru chatted away like good friends. Meanwhile, Ranma stood in the background patiently waiting for the two girls to finish. Eventually, Chibiusa got to the reason for her visit. In a calm, cheerful voice Chibiusa said, "Hotaru, what would you say if I told you that I found a way for you to get healthier?"

Hotaru diverted her eyes and said, "That's nice Chibiusa, but I don't think it will help me. I've looked into a few exercises to make me healthier and I just can't do them. Thanks for trying to help me. I really appreciate it."

With a twinkle in her eye, Chibiusa said, "Just trust me on this one Hotaru. I promise you that you'll be healthy so fast it will almost be magical!" As soon as Chibiusa said that, she twilled around and deactivated her transformation pen. Naturally, Hotaru was shocked out of her mind seeing her friend transform like that. Usa winked at Hotaru and said, "I told you it would be magical."

Seeing the state that Hotaru was in, Usa softly said, "This is my true form Hotaru. Like you, I'm a little different then most people. However that doesn't change the fact that you're my friend and I care about you. In fact, I came back to town because I wanted to help you."

At this point Ranma neared the duo and created a small dog-shaped droid. Hotaru's eyes bulged out when she saw this, but she quickly calmed down as the puppy droid acted like a regular puppy and Usa continued to smile. Ranma presented the puppy droid to Hotaru and he cheerfully said, "Hello Hotaru. Usa mentioned to me about how you were probably feeling lonely while she was away, so here's a little something so you'll always have a friend nearby."

There was a tear in Hotaru's eye as she gratefully accepted the droid from Ranma. This boy didn't even know her, except for what Usa might have told him, but he had gotten a gift for her because he thought she might be lonely. As Hotaru hugged the droid, she turned to Usa and asked, "How? How can I become healthier?"

Usa smiled softly and answered. "You see Hotaru, there's a slight imbalance with your healing abilities. It seems that your abilities are draining you much more than they should. Regular doctors wouldn't be able to treat this problem since they don't understand magical abilities. Luckily, my good friend Ranma here has access to a hospital that helps those with magical abilities. He's even managed to arrange for an appointment for you in the next hour. We can go there, get the doctor to recommend a few treatments, and then we can go back to your place so you discuss the treatment options with your father. What do you say Hotaru?"

Like any good child, Hotaru was torn about what to do. On the one hand, she shouldn't go somewhere without notifying her father. But on the other hand, Usa and Ranma were going through so much trouble just to help her out. Eventually, Hotaru timidly said, "Where is this hospital?" She was so afraid that if she didn't take this chance now, she'd never get it again.

Ranma looked around one more time to make sure that the coast was clear and then he stated, "We can't get to the hospitable by regular means Hotaru, so I'm going to create a portal to the place we need to go in order to get to the hospital. Just stay with Usa and watch." He then promptly created a typical black vortex and walked through. Usa held on to Hotaru and the duo walked into the portal together.

There is no day on Nemesis. At least, there isn't a time were the sun blots out the light of all the stars in the sky. Nemesis was just too far away from the sun for even the recovered magical terraforming techniques of the Silver Millennium to make the Nemesian sky like Earth's. Instead, the first colonists of Nemesis had weaved powerful spells to amplify the sun's light and the light of several dozen bright stars. During the 'day' the enhanced starlight made it seem like there were dozens of tiny suns in the sky. At evening, the magical construct stopped the magnification allowing the night sky to show its brilliance.

Ranma was sitting on the granite railing of one of the balconies in the palace looking up at the sky as the light bringers started to dim. Below Ranma, the city lights of Yamoto started to turn on. Thanks to a law his great-grandfather made, there was very little light pollution from the street lights. Seeing Yamoto's city lights always moved Ranma. It served as a daily reminder to Ranma of all the people depending on him as Prince.

While Ranma was staring out at Yamoto, Tweety flew over and landed on Ranma's shoulder. The little droid started gently rubbing its head against Ranma's neck causing him to start stroking its neck. After a few minutes of attention, Tweety flew off to another part of the palace. It probably went to go bug Teletha, but Ranma could never be sure. Tweety never seemed to tire in flying about the palace.

For a few minutes, Ranma was left in peaceful solitude. This solitude ended when Seto walked in and stood by the doorway. It was obvious that the chancellor wanted to talk to Ranma; but at the same time, Seto didn't want to intrude upon Ranma's private time. Ranma sighed and clearly said, "Come closer and conjure up a chair Seto. Tell me what's on your mind."

It still surprised Seto how casual Ranma was when he wasn't actually 'in the public eye'. Prince Demand had always insisted that every formal protocol be followed. The differences in leadership style still took some getting use to; although, Seto and everyone else in the cabinet was happy that they didn't have to constantly worry about proper forms of address. Focusing his attention on the present, Seto said, "The Treaty of Union was transmitted to Crystal Tokyo a few hours ago."

Ranma nodded his head and replied, "Yes I know Seto. Is there something about the treaty that's bothering you?"

Seto frowned as he said, "The treaty itself doesn't bother me. What bothers me is the possibility that the treaty won't go through. Given the decisions that your uncle made, it is possible that Neo-Queen Serenity won't approve of the treaty. If negotiations break down, Nemesis could be in serious trouble. We can't afford to have our trading partners embargo us because of another Crystal Tokyo/Nemesis war. Our metal stockpiles are just too low to both successfully fight another war and take care of our domestic needs."

After contemplating it a bit, Ranma decided to let Seto in on the plan. "That treaty will go through Seto. If Neo-Queen Serenity doesn't approve of the Treaty of Union, then Neo-Queen Serenity II will approve of it shortly after her imminent succession."

The wheels started turning in Seto's mind and he uttered, "On the Founder's grave, that second person who accompanied you when you first arrived at this afternoon was Princess Serenity!" Seto's eyes immediately narrowed and he said, "But why, why would the princess of Crystal Tokyo be willing to help overthrow her mother?"

Ranma smiled sadly and replied, "Actually, she's the one who approached me with the idea of overthrowing Neo-Queen Serenity. Things aren't too good over there and the present leadership isn't helping. I came up with the idea of the dynastic union being achieved by treaty instead of by force. However, Usa still has a lot of back-up if her mother decides to reject the treaty."

Seto's keen political mind worked through the information Ranma had provided and quickly saw the whole plan. The chancellor smirked and stated, "A very ingenious plan Ranma. If every thing goes right, Nemesis gets the recourses it needs. Should the treaty be rejected, the Neo-Queen is replaced by Nemesis friendly Neo-Queen who promptly ratifies the treaty. Worst case scenario, Crystal Tokyo tears itself to pieces in a civil war. No matter how this goes down, Nemesis comes out on top."

In a wistful manner Ranma said, "I'm hoping that things don't break out into a civil war on Earth. There's too much of a chance of Nemesis getting dragged into the war because of a third party getting involved."

Seto was able to read between the lines and he asked, "Are you afraid that you'll want to involve Nemesis in a Crystal Tokyo civil war because of the princess?"

For a second, Ranma was taken aback by Seto's question because he hadn't expected it. Shortly afterwards, Ranma nodded his head and said, "A little Seto. Usa's my friend and I don't want to see her hurt too badly. At the same time, I don't want to hurt my people because my emotions were in charge and not my reason. It wouldn't be right to make my people suffer because of my personal wants and desires. That's part of why I was so willing to agree to the royal marriage part in the treaty."

In a firm manner, Seto stated, "I can't consul you about your heart Ranma. However, I can act as a voice of reason. If things go to Tau Ceti on Earth, talk to me or one of the secretaries before making any decisions about a Crystal Tokyo civil war. We can offer sound advice if this situation comes up since none of us have any personal attachments to Earth."

Ranma gave Seto a small smile and replied, "Good advice. I just hope I don't have to depend on you guys too much if things go south. As prince, I need to know how to separate my personal wants from the needs of the state."

Seto nodded his head and said, "Your ancestor said it very well Ranma when he said 'I am both the first citizen and the first servant of Nemesis'. I've met and dealt with many politicians over my career. I've negotiated with foreign diplomats and brokered deals with business titans. However, I've rarely met people who understand the duty and personal sacrifice that a truly good leader needs to accept. You are one of those few people Ranma."

This unexpected praise got Ranma to chuckle and he said in turn, "It's too early to judge me on my leadership ability. There's always the chance that the power will go to my head and I'll do something stupid. Come back in twenty years and then we'll see if I'm actually half as good of a ruler that you seem to think I am."

Seto just retorted, "I find that very unlikely. You're too set in your ways to have any real major leadership problems. Just remember that Nemesis doesn't revolve around you and you should be fine. Oh, and don't take too many women into your bed. We don't need fifty claimants to the throne running around after you're dead because you decided to pull a sultan."

Ranma rolled his eyes as he said, "I'm not about to start a harem. Given how much mail they burn for me every day containing invitations for sex I'd end up bedding half the planet if I started have a mistress. There's no way I'm starting down that road, the prince does need his sleep after all."

The conversation quickly changed to lighter topics after that remark. Besides being the chancellor, Seto was also the closet thing Ranma had to a best friend on Nemesis. Their relationship was sort of like what Ranma used to want to have with Ryoga; except that the 'competition' was about who could help the commoners the most while interfering the least in the commoners' lives.


	14. Chapter 14

Neo-Queen Serenity, Neo-King Endymion, and the Scouts were all sitting at a solid silver table in the main conference room of the palace. Ami looked around the table stopping her eyes on Serenity. After Serenity gave Ami a small nod, the genius of the group said, "Last night we received a message from Nemesis. The message is a peace treaty between Crystal Tokyo and Nemesis."

Rei immediately asked, "What are they giving up to us for peace?"

Ami shook her head and replied, "Nemesis doesn't offer any concessions in the treaty. However, part of the treaty involves a dynastic marriage to insure that Crystal Tokyo and Nemesis don't fight each other anytime soon."

Serenity quickly inquired, "Just what exactly do you mean by a dynastic marriage Ami?"

Everyone watched as Ami pulled out a copy of the treaty, put on her glasses, and began to read. "Article Three states: In order to avoid further hostilities between our two nations, I, Prince Ranma I of Nemesis, make the following condition. That this treaty be solidified by a royal marriage between me and Princess Serenity of Crystal Tokyo. I offer 30 million Solari as a bride price for her. This money is to be under her control to restore Crystal Tokyo's industry. For a dowry, I ask that three or four of the outer moons of Neptune be opened to industries from Nemesis."

Naturally, Endymion and Serenity didn't know what to make of that. Minako got a look in her eye that no one could read. Makoto was clenching her fists and trying to keep her temper in check. However, Rei started screeching as she seethed, "How dare that upstart boy demand the princess's hand in marriage! Who does he think he is? There's no way that any member of the noble house of Serenity would ever pollute themselves by joining with that clan!"

Setsuna saw her opening and said, "Why don't we ask the princess what she thinks of this treaty? After all, she is the one affected by Article Three. Now is not the time for saber rattling. Crystal Tokyo doesn't have the strength to fight Nemesis off again. Prince Ranma is offering us, if your majesty approves of it, a fair deal that will stop the hostilities between us and Nemesis."

Serenity looked between Rei and Setsuna and tried to make up her mind. Why couldn't Rei and Setsuna just agree with each other? These kinds of decisions always hurt Serenity since she never wanted to offend any of her friends. But after a few moments, Serenity realized that Rei and Setsuna weren't about to back down from their positions. Finally, Serenity wearily said, "Ask Usa to come here."

One of the members of the Crystal Guard was standing in the shadows nodded his head and silently left the room. This guard returned a few minutes latter with Usa and then returned to the shadows as Usa sat down at the table. Usa folded her hands together and politely asked, "Why did you call me here?"

Endymion quickly replied, "We've received a peace treaty offer from Nemesis dear. Part of the treaty involves you and we wanted to get your opinion on it."

Ami then passed the treaty over to Usa who pretended to read it. After a few minutes, Usa felt that she had spent enough time 'reading' the treaty and placed it down on the table. She then looked around the table and said, "I least I know that I'm not thought of as cheep." Seeing the looks everyone was giving her, Usa held up her hands and said, "Sorry, I was just trying to lighten up the mood." In a more serious tone she continued on, "It's not exactly how I'd want to get married, but I accept Prince Ranma's proposal."

Rei was about to blow her top at this when Makoto elbowed the fire scout. Makoto then looked at Usa and said, "Usa? Why are you willing to accept this proposal? There's dozens of young nobles in Crystal Tokyo that could be your husband. Surely we can convince this prince to remove this marriage demand from the treaty."

Usa looked at her aunt and said, "The people of Crystal Tokyo need healing after the damage from the war. The money that Prince Ranma is offering for me would help our industry rebuild. Also, a marriage between Prince Ranma and me would insure that we don't have to worry about Nemesis again."

The undercurrent of tension among the Scouts over Usa accepting the marriage proposal was so thick that only a complete moron would miss it. Naturally, Serenity didn't pick up on it at all. She was busy trying to figure out if she should do the grandma dance, complain about her being too young, or weep for joy over her little girl getting married. Finally, Serenity's eyes started to tear up and she exclaimed between whimpers, "Wha! My little girl's getting married!"

* * *

Hotaru opened her eyes and looked around the room. For a second, Hotaru was scared since this room wasn't her bedroom. Then she remembered Usa and Ranma taking her to a magical hospital where they discovered that a creature was living inside her. A chill ran down Hotaru's sides and she wrapped her arms protectively around herself. It had been terrifying for Hotaru to discover that her weak constitution was because of a creature feasting itself on her powers. Luckily, it was a relatively simple process to remove the creature without any harmful side effects for her. Personally, Hotaru hoped they destroyed the creature with extreme prejudice.

Suddenly the door chime went off and Hotaru heard through the interface, "Hi there Hotaru. It's me, Ranma. I was just going on break for a while and wanted to see how you're doing. Can I come in, or would you like me to come back later?"

A small smile crossed Hotaru's face and she said, "Sure you can Ranma. Door open." Instantly the door to Hotaru's quarters slide open, revealing Ranma sanding in the doorway. Ranma quickly walked in and sat down in one of the chairs near Hotaru's bed. While it wasn't Ranma's quarters or those of a diplomat, Hotaru's quarters were fairly large and well furnished. Hotaru looked Ranma in the eye and asked, "So what are we going to do today?"

Ranma smiled and replied, "Sadly most of my day is booked with governmental duties. Those movie writers who write a plot about taking over the world must be on something illegal; no one with half the intelligence needed to create a diabolical plot would be stupid enough to assume the job. Take it from someone who knows, there's just too much paperwork involved in ruling a planet."

Hotaru's smile dropped for a second and then picked back up again. With only slightly diminished enthusiasm, she asked, "Can I see Usa?"

Ranma shook his head and replied, "While I would like to see Usa as well Hotaru, there's a slight problem. You see, her kingdom and mind don't exactly get along. She took a big risk contacting me and then going to the twentieth century to help you. But, if all goes well you'll be able to see her by the end of the week. I've sent a treaty to Usa's parents asking for her hand in marriage and if they accept I'll insure that you get to see her. Your friendship means a lot to Usa.

Hotaru felt a flood of different emotions as she listened to Ranma. She was grateful that Ranma had taken time out of his obviously busy schedule to check up on her. Part of her was thrilled at the thought of her friend possibly getting married. Another part of Hotaru was feeling lonely and worried about what was going to happen to her. After a few minutes of sorting out her feelings, Hotaru asked, "What's going to happen to me Ranma?"

In a tender tone, almost like a worried big brother, Ranma answered Hotaru. "You're staying here in the palace Hotaru; at least, for the moment until the Sailor Scouts of the Twentieth Century have defeated the Death Busters. Your father is heavily involved with that group and it's just not safe to send you back. For the time being you'll be my guest here at the palace and granted full access to all of the non restricted sections of the palace. That means you can go to the gym, library, recreational rooms, and the gardens. I know that there's plenty to do for fun here; I just don't get a lot of time to do those things."

The fact that Ranma was looking out for her made Hotaru feel better. It provided her with a bit of stability after the turmoil of the past day. Suddenly a stray thought crossed Hotaru's mind and she blurted out, "Ranma! If we're in the future, then does that mean that I could look up what's going to happen in my life?"

Ranma thought about it for a second and then replied, "Sure Hotaru. The 20th century has branched off from this time in an alternate timeline, but a lot of the facts for now should be basically the same. Don't worry too much if you're confused about it; I am as well if I try to understand it too deeply. Usa mentioned that you have a great deal of power within you, so I would suggest that you look up your counterpart's accomplishments to try and pick up some training hints."

Hotaru nodded her head and then gave Ranma a hug. As she was hugging him, the brunette whispered, "Thank you brother." She then realized what she a said and started to get embarrassed. Ranma hugged Hotaru a little closer to show that he appreciated her calling him brother before her face could become red from embarrassment. For his part, Ranma enjoyed Hotaru calling him brother. While he didn't know a lot about Hotaru, he did know that she was a sweet girl who had been dealt a bad hand in life. It was a very comforting thought to know that Hotaru thought of him like a brother.

After a minute, Ranma broke up the hug and said, "It was great talking to you Hotaru. Wish I could spend more time chatting with you, but I need to head down and grab a quick snack before I head back to work. Around 8 o'clock I'll be in the second gym on the third wing. If you want, I can give you some beginner's tips for using magic. I not an expert on magic, but I have learn quite a lot about it over the past few months." With that, Ranma gave Hotaru one last hung and then he left her bedroom.

* * *

Usa was lying on her bed with a wedding dress catalog in front of her trying to find a dress that wasn't too expensive, but at the same time wasn't beneath her station. If it was up to Usa, Ranma and her would have just signed the marriage papers and moved on to consummating the marriage. Sadly, Neo-Queen Serenity had insisted that Usa have a full wedding ceremony. Now Usa could understand that her wedding could be used as a moral lifter, but her mother didn't seem to realize that they were currently under a tight budget. Wearing a silk dress interlaced with diamonds and threads of gold just wouldn't work.

The doorbell rang just as Usa found a dress that she thought would meet her needs. After quickly earmarking the page, Usa called out, "Who is it?"

A quick reply came from the other side of the door. "Its housekeeping Princess Serenity, we need to start cleaning this wing. Also, Lady Setsuna told us to request your presence in her quarters."

Usa quickly placed the wedding catalog on her nightstand and called out to the maid. "Just give me a second and then you can clean my room. Thanks for passing along Auntie's message Kikyo; how's your sister doing at that pizza place?" Usa had always been friendly with the housing staff, and ever since her first trip to the twentieth century she had been trying to get to know the servants better. A major part of it was because Usa cared about the staff. However, she was also doing it to move the palace staff's loyalty away from her mother and focus it on her. Neo-Queen Serenity was always courteous to the servants, but she was also aloft and unreachable as far as the staff was concerned.

After getting Kikyo's reply, Usa left her room and headed to Setsuna's quarters. The door opened as soon as Usa arrived. Usa quickly entered Setsuna's quarters and immediately spotted Sora sitting next to Setsuna in Setsuna's little living room. She also noticed the empty seat in front of her and quickly sat down. Once the princess was comfortable, she turned to Setsuna and asked, "Okay, why did you call me here Setsuna?"

Sora quickly replied, "Setsuna called you here princess because there is some sensitive information that you need to be aware of. It's the kind of trouble that shows that even the walls have ears."

Usa's eyes narrowed and asked, "What exactly is this information Sora?" The captain of the Crystal Guard didn't speak. Instead, he pulled out a data crystal and placed it into a small projector that was sitting on a nearby table. The projector immediately came to life and showed a recording from a security camera. Usa knew that the video was from a security camera because of the time stamp and the sign of the guard displayed in the lower left hand corner.

As soon as Usa focused on the video, she felt a stabbing pain in her heart. Auntie Rei, Auntie Makoto, Auntie Ami, and Auntie Minako were all displayed. Steeling her heart, Usa silently signaled for Sora to play the video. Immediately Rei started speaking. "Something must be done to stop this atrocity! How dare that Nemesian trash think to mingle his line with the noble house of Serenity?"

Minako smirked at Rei and replied, "What's got your panties in a twist Rei? We already agreed that it would be a good idea to have the princess seduce Ranma. You can't do that without mingling fluids."

Makoto quickly retorted, "How you convinced us to go along with such a revolting plan I'll never know Minako. This wedding must not take place. The Nemesians are rebels who are occupying Crystal Tokyo's territory. They must be treated like the criminals that they are."

Ami decided that now would be a good time to add in her two cents. "Technically, the planet Nemesis was never incorporated into the Silver Millennium so they aren't exactly rebels occupying our territory. However, I have to admit that this marriage alliance is most unwise. The chaotic nature of the Nemesisans' magic is a serious danger to Crystal Tokyo; just look at what it did to the princess! It was one thing when the princess was just going to seduce the Prince, but this is unacceptable. We run the risk of a chaos magician ascending to the throne after the princess."

Minako ignored her fellow Scouts' complains and replied, "We should leave the marriage alone. Don't you three see? This is the chance we've been waiting for to finally restore the Crystal Throne to its destiny: complete control over the solar system. All we have to do is wait long enough for Prince Ranma to marry Usa and fill out the paperwork making her his heir if he dies. Then we assassinate him and Crystal Tokyo seizes control of Nemesis. If the Nemesisans try to cause any problems we can just petition some of the other nations like Jurai to support the princess's claim. They wouldn't be able to handle the interstellar fallout from failing to support us and send their armies to insure that Nemesis submits."

The video continued for a few more seconds as the other Scouts agreed to Minako's plan. As soon as the last one agreed, Sora killed the video and said, "This was taken at midnight yesterday. You and Lady Setsuna are the only ones outside the Guards who know about this plan princess. What do you want us to do about this plan?"

Usa closed her eyes and tried to think about what she should do. It just wasn't fair! Why did most of her aunties have to keep trying to cause problems for Crystal Tokyo? Couldn't they see that their policies just didn't work in the real world and back down? Usa had been desperately trying to find a way to insure that the citizens of Crystal Tokyo got the rule they needed and keep her family together. However, her aunties and finally forced her to choose between family and duty.

Sora and Setsuna silently watch Usa as the princess tried to make her decision. They both knew how much Usa had wanted the treaty to work and how hard this decision was. Finally, Usa opened her eyes and regretfully, but firmly said, "The die is cast. Sora, have your men kill the Inner Scouts once their all asleep. Make sure to cut off their heads and burn their bodies so that they can't be resurrected. While that's being taken care of, have other members of the guard initiate a complete black out of the palace and seal my parents in their bedroom. I'll steal the Ginzushou beforehand so that mother can't call upon its powers to use against us. Tonight Neo-Queen Serenity's reign ends and my reign begins."

* * *

Neo-Queen Serenity and Neo-King Endymion were peacefully resting in their extravagantly decorated quarters when the doors slid open and the guardsmen rushed into the room. The guardsmen were hoping that the duo would come quietly, but they were dressed for full combat if the couple didn't comply. Both the Neo-Queen and the Neo-King were woken up by the noise of the guardsmen rushing into their room. However, they were surrounded before they even knew what was going on. With his wife hiding in his arms, Neo-King Endymion nervously demanded, "What's going on?"

One of the nameless guards spoke up. "By order of Neo-Queen Serenity II, you two are to be taken to the throne room so that your fate may be decided." Naturally, Serenity and Endymion were shocked at what the guard said. But, the guards quickly grabbed them and practically dragged them out of their quarters. The royal couple led to the throne room where, to their utter shock and bewilderment, Usa was sitting on what had been Serenity's throne.

Serenity looked at her daughter in disbelief and muttered, "What's going on? This has to be a bad dream!"

Usa looked at her parents and said while hiding her feelings, "This is no dream mother. As of this moment, I am the Neo-Queen of Crystal Tokyo. I possess the Ginzushou, I have earned the loyalty of the Crystal Guard, and I don't have the weighty baggage of 1,000 years of poor rule."

Endymion felt a paternal rage well up within him and he roared out, "Small Lady! Just what do you think your doing?!" This unexpected burst only earned the well trained, house broken Neo-King a backhanded slap from one of the guards. That particular guard received several jealous glares from his comrades. All of the guards were displeased with Endymion, and they were glad that Usa was getting the new foreign model for her Neo-King.

Part of Usa wanted to cry out when she saw her father being hit. However, she knew that right now she needed to be strong and make her parents see that they were no longer calling the shots. In a firm tone that was stronger than she actually felt, Usa said, "Under your rule Crystal Tokyo has been suffering from one problem to another one. Neither of you have taken more than a token interest in the governing of Crystal Tokyo being content with playing magical couple in fantasy land. No more, as of this moment the people of Crystal Tokyo will get the governing that they need and not be left in neglect."

"I had hoped to avoid this course of events. With Ranma's help, I would have been able to negate most of your more idiotic policies. However, the Inners' plan to assassinate Ranma has forced me to seize power now in order to insure the Crystal Tokyo isn't ruined by your friends' pitiful attempts to play power behind the throne. The Goddess is currently showing those four why they shouldn't have overstepped their bounds."

Usa's parents felt their hearts freeze when they heard Usa say that. How could their loving daughter be so cold as to kill her aunts? Something inside of Serenity snapped and she screeched out, "You're not my daughter! Leave my daughter's body Death Phantom!" All of the guards were enraged that Serenity would insinuate that Usa was possessed. They had run several tests on the princess after the Wiseman War and had proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Usa's time under Wiseman's control had not affected her in any way, except for the growth spurt.

One of the guards was getting ready to slap Serenity when Usa signaled him to stop. She then calmly said, "It is obvious that the stress of ruling has finally caught up to Neo-Queen Serenity. As a wedding gift, she has abdicated the throne and retired to the McMurdo Monastery where she hopes the isolation will allow her to heal and rest. Naturally, her loving husband could not bear to be separated from her and has traveled to McMurdo Monastery to watch over her." The guards nodded their heads and immediately led the former Neo-King and Neo-Queen away.

As soon as her parents were carried away Usa broke down crying. Setsuna quickly appeared and wrapped her arms around the new Neo-Queen. In a soft voice, the emerald haired scout whispered, "It's over Usa. You did all that you could. Don't let what you did get to you too much."

However, these words didn't have the intended effect and Usa shook her head saying, "No Setsuna. It won't be alright. How can I be a just ruler if I gain the throne so dishonestly? How will Ranma ever trust me now?"

Setsuna knew that there was only one person who could get Usa out of her current depression. Silently slipping away from Usa, Setsuna walked over to Sora and said, "Watch over the Neo-Queen and let her come to grips with what has happened tonight. I'll go get someone who I know will be able to return Usa to her usual self."

* * *

Ranma was in one of the palace gyms firing low level attack spells at random targets that were popping up. The spells were only a fraction of the power that his Black Prince armor allowed him to wield, but that was the point. As far as Ranma was concerned, his armor was a tool and a tool is only as good as the person who wields it. If he could learn to fully wield his magic, then he would be stronger. Given his late start learning magic and his massive reserves, Ranma figured it would take years to gain that kind of control. However, he wasn't too worried about that.

Suddenly, the gym's siren went off alerting Ranma that someone was coming into the gym. Ranma always found the siren to be annoying, but he could understand why it was in place. It would be the height of irresponsibility to not have some sort of warning system in a place where live spells were constantly being used. Ranma turned around to see who was coming in and saw Seto and Setsuna walk into the gym.

Seto gave Ranma a small nod and then curtly said, "Setsuna here has some urgent news in regards to some situation that has happened in Crystal Tokyo. However, she has refused to tell me what has happened until she tells you."

Ranma walked up to the duo and replied, "Thank you for informing me Seto. Lady Setsuna, would you please tell me why you are here?"

Setsuna glanced at Seto not sure if she should reveal what had happened to Seto as well. But in the end, she decided to go ahead and speak. "Earlier today, the Crystal Guard discovered a plot among several of other Scouts to have you assassinated. Under Usa's orders, the Guard disposed of those Scouts and deposed her parents. Usa became Neo-Queen Serenity II about an hour ago. However, these actions have caused her to become depressed and distressed over the possibility that it will alter your view of her. I came here hoping that you would be willing to go and return the Neo-Queen to her usual manner."

Without a second thought, Ranma turned to Seto and said, "Clear my schedule for the evening. Tell my cabinet and Hotaru what's going on and where I'll be. If anyone else asks, just tell them that I asked for some peace and quite to focus on what it means to be a good husband." He then turned to Setsuna and said, "Lead me to Usa."

Setsuna quickly led Ranma to one of the transportation areas in the palace and activated a small transport pendent she was wearing. The two of them were covered in the sphere of energy that Crystal Tokyo used for long distance teleportation, and in a few seconds they were in the crystal palace. Ranma was quickly guided through the long winding halls of the palace until he and Setsuna stopped in front of a door. Setsuna turned to Ranma and said, "These are Usa's quarters; she is inside."

Ranma noticed as Setsuna discreetly hit the unlock switch on the door and walked away. He then walked into Usa's room and was immediately confronted by the sounds of her crying sobs. When Ranma saw Usa his heart lurched. She was lying on her bed with her face in a pillow. Her entire body was shaking from her crying. Slowly Ranma approached Usa and gently wrapped his arms around her. He then whispered into her ear, "Don't cry Usa. I'm not ashamed of you."

This immediately caused Usa to whirl around and face Ranma. She then whispered, "How can you not be ashamed of me Ranma? I, I killed people who were practically family to me! I banished my parents to Antarctica! How are you able to trust me?"

Ranma wrapped his arms tighter around Usa and he said, "I always knew that this was a possibility Usa. However, I trust you because I know that you only did this because you wanted the best for your people. As rulers, you and I have to bear a heavy burden. We have to order some unwanted things from time to time in order to protect our people and we have to live with the consequences of those orders. Your tears show that you're a good woman who would never deliberately cause other people suffering if she could avoid it. That's why I'm proud that you will be my wife and queen."

Slowly Usa stopped crying as Ranma's words and presence comforted her. Usa took a deep breath so she could enjoy more of Ranma comforting scent. She then whispered into Ranma's ear, "Show me. Show me that I can be loved Ranma."

Naturally, Ranma became nervous when he caught on to what Usa was asking of him. He then tried to gain some wiggle room saying, "Are you sure Usa? You were crying just moments ago. Why don't we wait on that until the morning so that you don't regret it? I'll stay here holding you all night." Ranma wasn't too comfortable with the idea of bedding Usa right now. Given her mental state, doing so would be taking advantage of her.

Usa slowly nodded her head and said, "Stay with me tonight Ranma. But please, fulfill my request if I ask it again later."

Ranma kissed Usa on the lips and then whispered into her ear, "I promise my dear that I'll always fulfill any reasonable requests that you make, goodnight." With that, Ranma lay down next to Usa and the two slowly drifted into dreamland. Both of them were wondering what the morning would hold for them.


End file.
